It's Only Us Now
by Kristal-Dynamite
Summary: Clementine is 22 and has lived through the apocalypse for many years now. She's lost everybody including her partner Luke. Or so she thinks? Romance, Hurt/comfort and tragedy later on in the story.
1. Clem

**Okay, Kristal-Dynamite from the future here...**

**I wanted to re-do a few things, especially my author's notes, so here I am!**

**This is my first fanfic that I have posted and it's an OlderClem/Luke pairing :) I do not ship them as they are in the game but I do ship them as a brotp ;) I was just curious about if Clem was around in her 20's, how the connections between the characters will differ, so this is why I wrote!**

**Please feel free to leave a review because I would love to hear about what you think of this story! Thank you and happy reading!**

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><p><span><strong>Chapter 1- Clem <strong>

Each day was survival. Clem didn't know how much longer she could make it. She was alone and has been alone for the past 3 months. Wandering the forests. Fortunately the amount of walkers decreased rapidly as now nearly everybody owned some sort of gun, so if they got bitten, they would most likely commit suicide in the least painful way to end the chances of them turning. But still, Clem lost everybody.

When she was younger she lost her parents, then she met Lee; found a group; lost all of them too… Found another group when she was at the age of 21; lost them as well. One of them was a guy named Luke. He was 26 at the time Clem knew him. He was her saviour and she was his. They became partners, but at the moment everybody started dying off like flies, Luke went missing. Clem presumed he was dead now. But it had been 3 months since they lost each other, and if she was alive, Luke had to be too.

This is why Clem never settled. He had to be out there somewhere. She wondered if Luke was searching for her too… Maybe he was, but it has been a long 3 months. Clem had also turned 22 during the time. Would he still have hope that she was out here too?

Clem let out a big yawn as she woke up. She lifted herself up off the hard earth and stretched her body out. Her muscles ached and it was early morning but Clem no longer felt tired.

"Luke?" She quietly called out into the trees. No reply. It had become a habit now. Calling Luke's name into the distance every time Clem woke up. Each time she would get no reply except from the day she woke up calling Luke's name and instead, a walker groaned and came chasing after her.

Everything now was silence. No one would talk to her. No one will come chasing after her. (Except the occasional walker) Clem was alone now. Surrounded by the silence and isolation. But she had to keep moving on because maybe, maybe one day, she will find him. She will find Luke.

Clem picked up her blood covered axe, her gun and spare magazine, which contained new and untouched bullets. She looked around and realised that she was meters away from the edge of the cliff as she could see mountains in the far distance. It looked cold up in the mountains, which meant it should be free of walkers. This would be Clem's next destination, to reach the mountain. There was bound to be a cabin up there, as she could see an old and abandoned ski lift just hanging on the side of the snowy mountain.

She carefully walked to the edge of the cliff where Clem then searched for any movement in the trees below the mountain. But then she saw something. Squinting as much as her eyes could take, she saw a figure, moving. It was hard to tell but it was not moving like any walker. It wasn't slow and stumbling on its steps. Clem did her best to try and make out who the person could be and what he or she could be doing. It had more of a man figure so Clem assumed it wasn't a woman. Suddenly, the thought of the person being Luke crossed Clem's mind.

"It can't be" she thought, taking a small shuffle closer to the edge of the cliff.

Immediately Clem decided that she would go down there. She didn't seem to care about who the person was, but she needed help. She turned on her heel and headed down the hill in the direction of East to make her way closer to the mountain. Where she will then find a way to get to the mysterious man. Or if she was lucky… Luke.

Although the journey would take a few days, Clem was determined to find out if this man was Luke. Even if he wasn't, maybe he knew Luke… Hopefully he would still be in the same area by the time she gets there. Hope was Clem's only ally now. Hope was Clem's only friend.

After 3 full days of walking and running, living on a small supply of food and sleep, Clem realised that she still had more travelling to do. She was getting nearer to the location but wasn't quite there yet. She found herself getting more and more exhausted but at the same time, the feeling of desperation. Clem wasn't even sure if the man she saw 3 days ago was even Luke. She had been alone many times before, but now, the effects of loneliness were drawing in. She was desperate for somebody's company. She needed somebody. That somebody was Luke. Clem loved him with all her heart but never got to properly show it… Well now she had to. She had to find him.

Clem decided to take a well deserved break, a rest even. She knew she had to keep moving but her body kept on refusing. She slowly walked towards the edge of the cliff like she did a few days back, and looked out into the distance. The sun was setting as she did so. 1 more day she thought. The good thing was that Clem couldn't she where she started journeying from. This was good as it meant she had travelled a reasonable enough distance in the past 3 days…

She smiled to herself. But then realised. The man (or Luke) wasn't there anymore. How could she be so stupid? Of course he wouldn't be! He would of moved on by now! This meant that if Clem ran for another day, she would just arrive at the same place the 'Luke' was first at.

She sighed as she sat down on a nearby rock.

"He's probably long gone" Clem said looking into the sky. The thought of never being able to find Luke again hurt Clem. It had hurt her inside out. She wondered if she should just give up. No. Not just the pursuit, everything. She had a gun. She was capable of using it too. Ending her life full of bad memories could be refreshing, but what about the good memories? What if she did find Luke? If she ended everything here, she could never feel the taste of kissing Luke's soft lips or hear him sing her to sleep at night. Although none of that happened just yet, those days were over. What both of them thought could be the future, was over…

It felt like hours Clem had been crying. Releasing all the pain made her feel refreshed however, as she stood up and went back to watching the sky. It was turning a light purple sort of colour with a hint of orange. Her and Luke's favourite colours mixed together.

Although hope seemed to be fading away, Clem felt something pushing her, like a nudge on the shoulder. It was telling her to keep going. Weirdly enough, she did feel like moving on. She felt like running. Running as if there was no tomorrow. Running free and feeling wings grow out of her back. She was surrounded by fresh green grass and white daisies. In the distance she could see people. They were people she recognized. People she loved and people she knew well. They were all in one big group like one happy family. Smiling and waving and calling out to her.

Clem knew they were all dead, but they looked so happy and so peaceful. She could see Lee, Pete, Nick, Sarah, Kenny, Katjaa, Duck, Ben, Carlos, everybody! Even her parents! She couldn't feel sad or shed a tear because they looked so happy. She could only smile with them.

Clem then realised that somebody was missing. She searched the group using just her eyes but couldn't make it out. She looked across to Nick who gently waved at her. She smiled back at him. He then mouthed out something to her…

"Go" he said using a small hand gesture at the same time. Then the vision disappeared.

Clem stood still, not realising she was staring into the distance in a complete daze. She thought hard for a moment. All the people in her vision were dead. But somebody was not in her vision at all. That somebody was alive. Besides from herself, the only person who she knew and loved who was not with the group in her vision was Luke.

Luke was still alive.

Nick and everybody else wants Clem to go.

They want Clem to go and find Luke while she was still alive.

They want Clem to go and find Luke while _**he **_was still alive.


	2. Luke

**Chapter 2- Luke**

"Clem?!"

"Clem, are you out there?!" Luke shouted into the trees. No answer. Luke could no longer expect an answer, because he knew he was alone. There was no life anymore. Even he couldn't consider himself life anymore. He was an emotional wreck, just trying to get through with life, but he couldn't. He could not do it alone.

Everyone Luke knew and loved are all gone. One by one they had their turn. They faced death in painful ways or quick and painless ways. But this did not mean they didn't suffer. They did. Everyone did.

How it happened so quickly? Luke didn't even know. The apocalypse was still ongoing but the only survivor left seemed to be him. But something in Luke's mind made him question whether he was alone or not. He could sense somebody's presence. There was life here, and it seemed to be making it's way to him fast!

"Could it be Clem?!"

"No, it couldn't be…" Luke thought.

Clem couldn't possibly believe he was still alive. But the truth was; he was still alive. Luke was still alive. Clem was still alive. However, they weren't the same Luke and Clem without each other.

They needed each other.

It was early morning and the hot sun was making its way out. God knows what time, day or month it was…

Luke woke up giving one of his huge and dramatic stretches. (Along with a huge and dramatic yawn) His back ached like hell as he tried to find the last bit of strength to get him on his feet again. His jeans were tattered and worn and his jumper's colour was fading into a paler and ugly looking orange. (Due to things like mud, blood and sweat) Luke then realised that he had left his machete strapped around his torso causing his back muscles to be extremely restricted and to feel painful every time he moved.

But right now, an achy back was the least of Luke's problems. Travelling further up north to reach the mountains was the problem. It could take Luke days to get there, but he remembered Clem telling him that walkers get slow when in the cold, which means they stay away from those areas, which then goes on to meaning that there will be less of the dead to deal with, which then means, well, not getting chewed up by a herd of flesh eating monsters. Then slowly dying ..etc etc…

The mountains are going to be Luke's next destination. Who knows? Maybe Clem could already be up there. Waiting. Waiting for that day when Luke will arrive safely and she could jump into his tired but muscular arms and hug and kiss him like there is no tomorrow… Maybe that could happen…

Minutes of intense thinking (and fantasizing) passed when Luke heard a low groaning sound. Startled by the sudden noise thinking it was a walker, Luke realised it was his _very _empty stomach. He sighed remembering that he has been searching for food for 2 days now…

Luke casually savaged around some bushes with some hope of finding at least some berries to live on… Minutes later… Success! Juicy, plump red-ish pink berries caught Luke's eye and he breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn't sure what type of berries these were but firstly, he knew any food would do him good. And secondly, these berries weren't poisonous. After living on a farm with his best friend Nick, Luke knew what berries were good to eat and what ones were not…

"Nick" Luke thought. He missed that asshole, but instead of grieving about the painful things in life, like how Nick died, Luke simply just smiled and reminisced on the times Nick didn't feel pain, and how good life was with his pal before all shit went down…

It was only after a few more berries were picked that Luke noticed something moving in the corner of his eye. He slowly and gradually turned around to face up at the large cliff, almost like a large hill, in front of him, where he then saw a faint figure.

"Walker" Luke thought, he stepped forward slightly, squinting at the same time to realise that this was no walker. This figure was a person. Luke could see how the person kept on stepping backwards and forwards as if it was debating whether it should get any closer to the edge of the cliff or not… He didn't know who the person was, but he was sure now that it was not a walker. Was it Clem? Luke couldn't tell. He didn't even know if this 'person' had spotted him already…

The figure then quickly turned on its heel and sprinted away. Or maybe it was finding a way closer to Luke.

"It can't be my Clem" Luke thought.

"I can't risk waiting"

And with that, Luke took hold of all his beloved berries, placing one in his mouth and made his way slowly venturing deeper into the forest, heading in the same direction of the mountains. Luckily, so far, no walkers were to be seen, but who says there will be none later on?

As Luke continued walking, berries in his hands and machete firmly in place on his back, he kept on asking himself the same question. And this question did not seem to want to leave him…

"Am I walking away from _my_ Clem?"


	3. Clem- Desperation

**Chapter 3- Desperation**

Tears spilled down Clem's cheeks as she ran through the never-ending forest.

"You're strong! God dammit, Clem you can do this!" she kept on repeating inside her head.

Each stride was agony for Clem. Her legs were getting weaker and her lungs burned inside her chest. Her face was red and her cheeks were stained with the floods of tears.

Running was the only answer left for Clem. She has to a conclusion that the person she saw many days ago _was_ Luke! She had hoped that Luke would of spotted her too and ran back for her, but there still was no sign of him. That's why Clem was running.

Clem cried in panic as she could feel her body give in. For a few days now, she hadn't eaten or slept. It was stupid for Clem to put her body in such agony, but now, she was desperate. Clem would stop at nothing until…

"Fuck!" Clem's desperate pursuit came to an abrupt halt as she slipped on some wet mud and fell to the solid ground landing on her arse quite painfully. She then looked up to see three hungry walkers gaining on her. Two of them were walking (more like shuffling), one with all body parts intact, the other missing an arm, and the last, dragging it's weight along the hard earth as it was missing both of it's legs…

Clem cringed as it reminded her of the torture the St Johns did to her good friend Mark. Luckily, Mark was now safe in heaven as Clem remembered seeing him, along with everybody else in her vision. However, this was not Mark, nor any other friendly face. This was a flesh-hungry walker, and it was coming to get Clem.

As fast as she possibly could, Clem grabbed two rocks beside her that she nearly could of fallen on seconds ago, and chucked them right at the arm-less and leg-less walkers to slow them down temporarily. Clem then stood back up and swung her axe, which struck the other walker straight trough it's thick skull and into the brain, making an instant kill. The impact of the force used, made Clem's shoulder jolt in an indescribable, excruciating, sharp pain causing Clem to scream in agony. She bit her lip and went to pull out her axe from the walker's head, but she couldn't. The axe was wedged in well.

"Just give it a little pull. It should come straight out" Clem remembered Luke telling her a while back. But this was different. She didn't have time to yank her axe out of the walker's damn skull. She also didn't want to use any bullets on the walker's as the gunshots could ring out for miles…

Without second thought, Clem ditched the axe, leapt up and pounced onto the oncoming one-armed walker. She then rugby tackled the walker by grabbing it around it's skinny waist, causing it to fall heavily onto the ground. Clem quickly got up off the walker, reaching to the side to grab a heavy rock; too heavy to hold with one hand, and continuously started hitting it across the head. The walker made unpleasant sounds and cries of defeat as Clem; with all her might desperately continued to beat the walker until it stopped of all movement.

Finally, what felt like a life time later, the walker became silent and lied completely still on the ground, lifeless. Clem quickly glanced over her self for any sign of bite marks but fortunately found none. Her breathing was heavy as she panted and cried in pain. Her body was exhausted, and from head to toe, her tanned skin was drenched in sweat. But she couldn't give up now. There was still poor old 'leg-less' to deal with…

The dismembered walker slowly crawled it's way over to it's victim, but before it could reach Clem's ankle, she stood up straight then gave a king Leonidas styled kick to it's head, again, to slow it down temporarily. As Clem had a few seconds to spare, she quickly paced over to the first dead walker in attempt to retrieve what was hers. Placing both hands on the handle of the axe, Clem gave one hard pull, slowly tugging free the blade of her axe, only to be knocked back slightly by the force. Clem then turned back to face the struggling walker and lined up her axe to it's head, and with all the strength that she could muster; threw the axe, sending it straight into the front of the leg-less walkers head.

Silence.

Seconds later, Clem could feel her body rapidly burn up. Intense pain travelled through her veins as she let out a loud, blood-curdling cry and limply fell to the ground beneath her in writhing pain. She curled into a fetus position and listened deeply to the sound of her heartbeat dying down and the occasional groans from her stomach. Clem knew she was going to die now. She could feel it. It was over.

A few tears spilled there way down Clem's burning cheeks and then gracefully landed on the mud beneath her. She refused to let her limbs move as she knew it would make it longer for her body to let her die. This was it. Clem let everybody down. Luke would be completely alone now. Just him against the remaining hundreds of walkers left in the country…

"How could I be so cruel?" Clem thought.

Suddenly, the sound of twigs snapping and faint footsteps could be heard. As they got louder, they got nearer. Clem closed her eyes, waiting for the worse to happen…

"I love you Luke" Clem's last thought would be.

If she had to die now, make it fast. Or slow. It wouldn't matter to Clem anymore. As long as her last thought could be of Luke, then that's all that mattered…

She pictured the sky she saw many nights ago. The colour it was that evening. Orange and purple it was.

Hers and Luke's favourite colours blended together.

It was a beautiful chemistry. Much like their relationship. She wanted to be distracted by reality and sink into her thoughts, but there was a voice. Not in her thoughts, but in reality. A voice she'd not heard in months…


	4. Luke- Safe In My Arms

**Chapter 4-Luke-Safe In My Arms**

For 3 more long days, Luke was still surviving on his beloved berries. He was still journeying towards the mountains, but every day has become the same now. Hardly any rest, same thoughts, berries and walking. Plain, old, walking…

Luke wasn't getting far. In fact he slowed down more regularly. He took more breaks and rests, not because he _needed_ it, but because, in the back of his mind, a little voice was telling him something. It was telling him that somebody was trying to get to him. However, he kept walking on, getting further away from his solutions. It was then that Luke came to a conclusion that it must be Clem who was trying to get to him. That person on the cliff was Clem, and she saw Luke. She was going to find him. She was looking for him now.

At first, Luke didn't believe it, but after lot's of thought, his gut told him to turn around. At least make Clem's journey a little easier.

Luke ditched his plan about travelling up to the mountains, in hope of finding Clem already there, safe and sound, and instead, went searching for his Clem himself…

So far, Luke luckily had not encountered any walkers, which seemed odd at first, but he realised he was still quite close to the mountains, meaning it was colder than usual and the amount of walkers were scarce. But now he was travelling in the opposite direction, walkers could pop out from anywhere at anytime. For self defence purposes, Luke kept his machete in hand at all times in case things got quite messy.

Just then, all of a sudden, the sound of light footsteps and timid moaning could be heard.

"Shit! Walkers!" Luke grumbled to himself, almost to loudly.

Luke pivoted around in a slow 360 degrees, scanning the trees and waiting for the un-dead to show themselves. Then, what Luke thought would be a small herd of walkers, ended up only being one.

A short-ish looking female walker came stumbling through the trees, making slight moaning sounds again, as she took uneven steps towards an armed Luke. She stared straight at Luke with her blank white eyes and her arms were outstretched and ready to grab onto to her prey.

For a short moment, Luke had a disturbing thought that the walker in front of him was Clem, but he looked closely to see that this walker was blonde and wore a dirt and blood covered, yellow vest top; Clem hated yellow. She always has. Something about that colour made Clem despise it. And still to this day, Luke didn't know why. Clem was quite open about her feelings and thoughts to Luke, but he would always love to know the little details. He asked about her favourite colour in which she replied with 'purple', and then he asked about her least favourite colour, in which she replied with, 'yellow'.

"And why is that?" Luke had questioned with curiosity.

"Just don't like it" She replied quite blankly.

And that was it.

Luke now had a new mission. When he finds Clem, he will get to know the little details again. He will find out about her interests and hobbies she used to have, but the one burning question will be: "What's wrong with yellow?"

Luke smiled at the thought.

Without realising how far from reality he was, the walker had already made its way to Luke. She swung her bony arms to attempt to grab onto Luke but he ducked just in time. Annoyed, the walker growled and lunged itself onto Luke before he had a chance to hesitate.

"Mother Fuck-..." Luke got cut short as he was suddenly shoved down once again. The walker clambered on top of Luke trying to get a firm hold of him as he punched and hit her. Luke's actions was making the walker frantic as she growled and screeched waving her arms everywhere, trying to get Luke to keep still as she sinks her teeth into his flesh. Luke was also struggling because he couldn't get his machete to her…

After what felt like hours of wrestling, Luke finally managed to push the walker off of his form by grabbing both of her slender arms, then proceeding to head butt her before she could let her rotten teeth meet his neck. The walker let out a loud, shaky groan, however, before it could attempt to regain its posture, Luke's machete had pierced through its thick skull and into the brain, leaving the corpse laying motionless on the solid ground…

"That's one down." Luke thought after hearing several more groans coming from around the area he was in. Luke swiftly removed his machete from the walker's head and turned on his heel to head in the direction the walker groans were coming from.

After running for what felt like a minute or so, and also easily killing an oblivious walker from behind, Luke was startled to hear a blood-curdling scream. It wasn't too loud from where he was, but it was something. A person. No. It couldn't be…

Luke ran for what this time felt like an eternity, to stop and discover a horrific sight. A sight that he thought he would never see in his entire life.

There lay, three walkers. One with an axe stuck in his head, and missing half of its limbs… One with a smashed up and ruined face and skull, with a missing arm also. And another with all its limbs but a deep head wound with blood still spurting out of it, which Luke assumed was done with the same axe that the leg-less walker had deeply inserted into it's skull…

And then laid another figure. Curled up into a shaking ball, covered in walker blood, wearing a hat.

That axe looked familiar…

That hat looked familiar…

…Clem.

Luke stared in utter shock before quickly sprinting over to Clem. She flinched as she sensed the person bend down next to her. She hadn't looked up to see that it was Luke just yet…

"Clem?"

"Clem, babe?" Luke quietly said trying to stay calm. He was nervous but also relieved to have finally found his partner after _this_ long. He'd already started to cry. Whether it was happy tears or sad tears, Luke did not know…

Within an instance, Clem lifted up her head to look upon him. Those big brown eyes, his jaw line, his nose, the scruffy hair… This was… this was, Luke.

She locked eyes with Luke for a second before tears of happiness blurred her vision. Without thinking about the state she was in, Clem pounced up into Luke, wrapping her achy arms around his firm waist. Luke returned the hug and at the same time, felt a weird burning sensation in his chest. He was so thankful to finally have his Clem back, but there was still sadness in his heart due to the time they spent apart. He wondered if Clem had the same feeling too.

To mend this sad part of him, Luke carefully and slightly reluctantly peeled himself away from Clem's grasp, and before she could say anything, he crashed his lips into hers. The moment felt intense. They were both so broken and damaged from the past but this kiss still felt the same. It felt as good as their first kiss, it felt as good as their second. It was the same beautiful kiss that they both longed for…

Nothing was going to separate them now. Only death. But death didn't matter any more. Heaven was real. Clem saw it. Luke may not of, but one day he will. One day, both Luke and Clem will realise that death is not to be feared.

Death brings you to your loved ones.

Death is just letting you start a brand new life, but with the people you love…


	5. The Past Is Just The Past

**Chapter 5- The Past Is Just The Past**

Once again it felt like being free. Growing large feathery wings as white as fallen snow, flying through the cool breeze and occasionally coming down to run freely through the fresh green grass. Happiness and joy filled the atmosphere and the sky was bright and blue. Who knew that Clem could feel this good just by kissing a certain someone? That certain someone being Luke…

Kissing among three dead walkers is not everybody's cup of tea, but for Luke and Clem… Nothing mattered anymore.

After minutes of a very warm embrace, the two lovebirds separated from each other's grasp. Before Luke could ask or do anything, Clem broke down in tears for which felt like the millionth time today.

"Aw, don't cry Clem, you'll make me cry…" Luke said in a calm manner with a small smile on his face. He lifted his fingers and gently started stroking Clem's soft but blood stained cheek.

Clem tried to force the slightest smile but her mind suddenly became flooded with all the horrible memories from the past.

"I was going to kill myself, Luke!" Clem said quickly, a little louder than intended.

"We've lost _so_ much!" she continued. More tears made there way down her face as she said these harsh words.

Luke stared at Clem for a few seconds as she stared down at the dry mud on the ground. He then took hold of her small, fragile hands and soothed her palms with his thumbs while he hummed a light tune that he remembered Pete humming when Nick and him were young. Slowly, Clem rested her head on Luke's chest, listening to his faint heartbeat and the beautiful tune that he was humming.

"We have each other" Luke stopped humming and whispered into Clem's ear.

Clem sniffled but took his words in. Luke was right. Clem knew she had to be more grateful for what she had. She came all this way to find Luke and she did. She told herself that finding him is all she would ever want… And she got it.

She remembered Luke asking her: "What is the most important thing in the world?" in which she replied with: "family". Luke _was _family to Clem. He was her only family while she was still alive, and Clem was Luke's only family while he was still alive…

"But the past still hurts, Luke…" Clem replied holding onto his warm hands now, more tightly.

"I know Clem." Luke said sympathetically.

"But the past is just the past and it's a big part of our lives. The past holds good memories but also bad ones, and in order to get away from it, you travel further. You leave it behind. You travel further to get to somewhere new…" he continued to explain.

"Life's not meant to be travelled backwards."

The words stung Clem like a knife, but in a good way. Clem slowly looked up to face Luke. Her sadness that was once plastered onto her face had now turned into something more positive. Her eyes were bright and her frown was officially, turned upside down!

"So, our next destination is?" Clem asked with now, a hint more enthusiasm in her voice.

Luke smiled down at Clem, realising how his words must of affected her. He wished he could have said something like that to Nick when Pete died…

"Well I was actually heading up the mountains to see if there was a cabin…"

"…and to see if you were up there too…" Luke mentioned casually.

Clem let go of Luke in shock. A wide smile spread across her face, something she thought she would never do again, and said…

"Me too!"

* * *

><p>Luke turned to look at his surroundings to see the same three walkers lying motionless on the ground. They reeked of some sort of excruciating smell, but that was to be expected…<p>

"You did this by yourself?" Luke asked, his face growing slightly more serious.

Clem rolled her eyes. It was obvious she killed all three walkers but this was not the time for sarcasm and jokes.

"You doubt that I could off done that?" Clem replied. She decided to give a witty and sarcastic reply but showed a small smirk just in case Luke thought she was being serious.

"No, no, I… uh… never mind." Luke quickly said back while scratching the back of his head.

The two of them just sat there and chuckled, finally gaining the witty humour they once had.

* * *

><p>The pain in Clem's body seemed to have faded away now. Yes, she still was weak, but with some food and water, she could live. She wondered if Luke had eaten or not. He looked slightly pale and skinnier, but nothing too severe. Clem wondered what he must of found to eat.<p>

"God, I'm starving!" Clem admitted as her stomach rumbled all of a sudden.

"You look it!"

"When were the last time you eaten?" Luke asked, becoming worried yet again.

"About 3 days ago…same with sleeping…" she replied. Clem would have to tell Luke everything because she knew he would get worried if she didn't.

"God damn it Clem!" Luke replied. He wasn't angry, just worried, like he always was. Luke was curious of how she could of lived for these past 3 days. With no meat on her bones, he wondered why the walkers would even want to feed on Clem.

"You need to rest, I'll get you something to eat…" Luke explained, hoping that Clem would jut simply let him help her.

"It's fine Luke, really." Clem replied quickly, not fully convinced that Luke had any sort of food on him.

Instead of telling Clem that she really wasn't fine, Luke just stared at her small, pale face, as if he was trying to get a message across to her. Clem looked up into his eyes. She knew that face. It was a full on stare but not intense like. Luke's expression was clearly full of worry but was very soft. He also just had to have big brown puppy eyes, which told her clearly that he knew that it was, not fine or okay.

"Where are you going to find food anyway?" Clem asked to break the awkward seconds of silence.

"Well, not far from here there are bush's full of nice juicy berries!" Luke said, slightly too enthusiastically.

"Okay" Clem giggled.

Luke then stood up, Clem following. She was a bit shaky at first but she could manage. Hopefully.

"Wait."

"How do you know these berries are not poisonous?" Clem asked lifting up one eyebrow.

Luke smirked at her comment.

"Firstly, I've eaten a load already…and I'm not dead. Just yet…"

"Yeah and?" Clem asked, still slightly sceptical.

"Clem, I once lived on a farm…"

"Couple of farm boys…"

"Remember who said that?" Luke said with the same smirk still on his face.

Yes, Clem could remember who said that. It was Carver. She didn't care about him being dead… but Nick, and everyone else… Great, now the bad memories have to come back.

"Clem?" Luke asked feeling slightly anxious about what he just said.

"You know living on a farm for so long… I would know if a berry is poisonous or not…" Luke continued.

Something was bothering Clem, and it wasn't the berries… Couple of farm boys… Of course that would make Clem remember. She would think back to Nick, then everybody else in the group. How could Luke be so stupid?

"Clem I…" he decided not to say anymore.

Clem said nothing and instead, walked over to the leg-less walker she killed not that long ago today and decided to reclaim what was hers, again. She pushed back the thoughts of being weak and gave one hard tug on her beloved axe, but she couldn't do it.

"Here, I'll help." Luke said walking up beside Clem.

She gave a small smile of appreciation as Luke knelt down slightly, and with one hand; forced the axe out of the walker's skull. Blood came gushing out, squirting on and staining both Clem and Luke's jeans. They both flinched and took a step back, watching as the walker's blood soaked up the ground beneath it.

Luke smiled at Clem, feeling quite proud for helping her out. His expression changed when he saw Clem's face look stern as if she was thinking hard about something. He handed Clem's axe to her, hoping that holding her loved weapon would lift her spirits but instead, she mumbled a quiet "thank you".

"Clem, what's wrong?" Luke asked trying to look her in the eyes. She kept on looking down at her feet so Luke gently tilted her chin up with his fingers so he could look upon her golden yellow eyes and she could look upon his less interesting brown eyes. What Luke didn't know was that Clem loved his big round eyes.

"It's nothing." She replied, with the same mumbling tone of voice as before.

"Clem, as I said before, we cannot travel backwards…"

"The past is the past…" Luke explained, trying to get Clem's attention like he did before.

She knew Luke was right. Everything he said just then, made sense. However, there was something in his voice that made him sound like he didn't care. Maybe he saw the vision too, realised everybody was safe, and just moved on from it like it never happened.

Instead of bringing up anything, Clem just replied with; "okay" and forced a small smile. He gave a smile in return.

"We should head towards the mountains now…" Clem mentioned as she looked above the trees and into the mountains in the distance.

"Yeah we should." Luke agreed.

"But first, we should get some berries on the way!" Luke said, once again perked up. There was something about these berries that Luke just seemed to love.

Clem smiled at him. Luke still had a great humour. Sometimes she wished she could put everything behind her as Luke did.

Luke always seemed to search every corner for the good in life. He was hopeful.

* * *

><p>There was lot's to discuss between Clem and Luke, but now that they were happily together again, they had all the time in the world to discuss matters.<p>

Or so they thought…


	6. Visions

**Chapter 6- Visions**

"Getting real sick of these berries Luke." Clem complained, chewing on yet again, another berry. It tasted flavourless now, as it's been three days of eating the same food.

Luke chuckled.

"Well, it's better than nothing." Not admitting him self that he was also getting tired of eating the same thing _every _single day.

"Besides, I can't promise you Clem, that we will be eating pizza and burgers anytime soon…" Luke continued; looking down and grinning at Clem, whose face was scrunched up due to the sourness of the berry she just took a bite out of.

Pizza. Burgers. That sounded nice. It had been years since Clem last had any of those foods touch her tongue. It made her mouth water at the thought of it.

"So, how many more days till we reach the 'cabin'." Clem asked.

Luke and Clem were lucky enough to spot a small brown building within the mountains, which could most probably be a cabin. Although they didn't know whether it was a cabin to be sure, or if the 'people' inside were friendly, every thing now was worth a try. Things were risky, but they had to be done, otherwise, you get nowhere.

"I'd say about two more, however, the colder weather may slow us down…" Luke replied a little disappointed.

"Yeah, I'm feeling it already." Clem said rubbing her arms. Goose bumps were already starting to form on her lower arms as the air turned cooler.

"You know I could always give you my sweater to put on…" Luke explained smirking down at Clem.

"You're not wearing anything underneath are you?" Clem said looking up at Luke, fully understanding what he was trying to say.

"Who said I wasn't wearing anything underneath?" Luke replied, still grinning.

Clem rolled her eyes.

"I'm not going to let you walk around shirtless while I'm piled on with your huge sweater!" Clem explained starting to laugh a little.

"You calling me fat?" Luke answered back nudging Clem on the shoulder.

"No, I'm just saying that I am smaller than you…" Clem was really trying to stay serious now, but she couldn't keep her laughter in for much longer.

"Well duh." Luke replied, purposely walking closer to Clem's side to show off their height difference more clearly. He had a smug look on his face as Clem rolled her eyes once again, shoving Luke away to the side lightly as they continued walking.

Clem really wanted Nick to be here so he could stand beside Luke and say whom the _real _short ass was. Of course, she was the tiniest next to him, but Luke still looked quite short when he was beside Nick.

"You know I wish Nick was here so he could make fun of _your_ height." Clem said smiling.

"Ha! Yeah, I wish he was…" Luke replied obviously trying to reminisce instead of grieving.

Clem liked that about Luke. She'd seen it many times before, but Luke could always seem to think of friends or family who had passed and not get sad in any way. It's like he could _only _think of the good times.

She wished she could be like that too.

This was the moment that Clem thought it would be the right time to tell Luke about the vision she had about a week and a bit ago…

"I had a vision Luke." Clem quickly said while adjusting her hat on her head.

"Oh yeah? About what?" Luke asked coming back into thought.

"I was free."

"I don't know where I was but in front of me is what seemed to be like heaven…"

Luke listened intently to what Clem was saying.

"Everybody was there."

"Nick, Pete…" Clem started listing a bunch of friends and family she remembered seeing. It hurt to say their names but she really wanted to get Luke to understand what she saw.

She ended with the name Lee. Luke nodded, glad that Clem mentioned him as well, because he knew how much Lee meant to her…

"They looked so happy"

"They waved and I waved back."

"I tried taking a step forward but I felt like I could not go any further. That's when I realised that this was heaven and I was not dead yet…"

Clem struggled to continue but she remembered that her vision of her loved ones wasn't sad at all. Why did she feel like crying? Heaven was a good thing, but she realised, in order to get to see everybody again; She would have to be dead. Clem was at least grateful she could spend a few seconds with them because she knew Luke seemed to have not seen any visions of his loved ones just yet…

"They told me to keep moving on."

"It was then I realised they wanted me to find _you_. I was confused at first but I then saw that you were not with them, which means _you_ were still alive Luke…"

Luke carefully wrapped his arm around Clem's shoulder bringing her in closer to him.

"That must have been a beautiful vision Clem." Luke said, wishing he could see things like that.

"It was." Clem replied, wrapping her arm around Luke's waist.

"I had wings too!" Clem added, smiling once again, thinking positively.

"Sorta random but okay!" Luke replied chuckling slightly.

It was then that Clem remembered listing some of her and Luke's family and friends that again, someone was missing…

"Can't be someone _too_ important…" Clem thought.

If it were someone she loved dearly it wouldn't be_ this_ hard to remember him or her.

Clem decided to put this to the back of her mind and instead just leave it as, somebody she knew quite well was still alive. She didn't know whether it was a male or female, but it was somebody she knows, however, not too much about personally…

"Luke?"

"Yeah Clem?" Luke answered, looking back down at Clem's face while still holding her as they walked.

"Somebody I know is still alive." Clem replied looking up into Luke's chocolate brown eyes.

"Me?" he replied, smirking again.

Clem laughed at Luke's witty humour. It was not the time for jokes but he had a point.

"No silly!" Clem replied, poking Luke's chest.

"So I'm not alive?" Luke questioned, continuing his terrible but humorous joke while grinning.

Clem attached her axe to her belt and then used her free arm to playfully punch Luke in the chest.

"Just stop it." She said giggling like a child.

"Okay, I'll stop"

"So, will I know this person?" Luke asked, feeling slightly more curious now.

"Hmm, I'm not sure Luke."

"I don't know if it's somebody from a while back or not…" Clem explained, again trying to think about who it may be.

"Oh well, as long as they're safe then it's okay" Luke replied smiling.

Clem smiled back in appreciation.

Luke may not even know who this person could be at all, but he still cared for whoever it was… Clem knew someone she cared about was still alive, and even if Luke didn't know him or her, he still hoped that they were safe for _Clem's_ sake.

Without much thought, Clem reached up on her tippy toes and gave a small peck on Luke's lips. His lips were soft and had the faint taste of berries on them.

"Nicks probably rolling his eyes right now." Luke said looking up into the blue sky smiling.

Clem giggled thinking about how Nick would react to their signs of affection.

"Man, I think you deserve to see him Luke."

"Maybe one day you will see the same vision I saw…" Clem explained resting her head on Luke's shoulder.

He smiled as he continued staring into the sky thinking about everyone that Clem got to see…

"Yeah, maybe I will…"


	7. Yellow Eyes & Slippery Hills

**Chapter 7- Yellow Eyes & Slippery Hills**

Nearly two days had passed and things were looking up for Clem and Luke. They've had travelled quite a far distance, now venturing on the mountains. They've eaten well enough to help them last the long walk…

The amount of walkers seemed to decrease, three more being killed by Clem and Luke on the way. And finally, they both had some rest to regain their energy.

Clem felt a lot better than she did those few days ago when she had come face to face with three hungry walkers she had to defeat alone. Her muscles still ached slightly, but to support herself, she had leant on Luke as she walked.

Luke also felt quite good too. He felt like there was nothing to complain about when Clem was around. He realised from when he first met her that she was as tough as nails, like Pete used to say. If she was okay, then he was okay…

* * *

><p>"I think we're nearly at the cabin." Clem said looking up smiling as she continued walking.<p>

It was defiantly a cabin. Luke and Clem saw it, as they got closer to the mountain. They could make out a door and windows, even a chimney!

"Yeah, I think we are too!"

"Let's hope they're friendly…" Luke continued.

"Me to. Hopefully they won't make the approach you did when I first met your group…" Clem said looking up at Luke smirking.

Luke looked down embarrassed by the situation. He remembered saving Clem, which was good he supposed. But dropping her on the ground, then letting his group members harass her with mean and questionable comments, even hold weapons up to her… Well that was a different story!

Clem playfully punched Luke on his arm starting to chuckle.

"Look, I forgive you. And them! There's nothing to be ashamed of!" Clem said laughing as Luke's cheeks started to burn up.

Luke smiled slightly. "Yeah sorry if I hurt your ass when I dropped you…"

Clem looked around behind her. "Yeah I think it's okay."

"Your ass is always okay." Luke said winking down at Clem.

Clem started to blush but instead just playfully punched Luke's arm again; he did the same in return.

* * *

><p>As both Clem and Luke got further up the mountain, it became colder and also steeper. They held onto each other for warmth and for support to make sure they did not slip.<p>

It was a lot cooler now as winter was approaching, meaning frost started appearing all around them. It made the ground slightly slippery but they were grateful it wasn't solid ice or they wouldn't be getting anywhere.

Walkers weren't having a good time either. Clem and Luke both looked into the distance to see faint figures of walkers roaming around, but they weren't getting anywhere. The moans and groans could be heard from them miles away as if they were frustrated because of the weather. It made both Clem and Luke smile, knowing that they shouldn't be too much of a problem…

* * *

><p>"So, Clem…" Luke said, quite randomly.<p>

"Yeah?" Clem replied.

"I've been meaning to ask you something…"

Oh God, Clem hated it when Luke starts a sentence off like that. Always has to sound curious to make Clem feel nervous like she's done something wrong…

"Why do you hate yellow so much?"

Clem looked up at Luke curiously. What has gotten into him? They're in the middle of the apocalypse, nearly everyone's dead, and he wants to know the reason for her disliking of the colour yellow?!

"You cannot be serious…" Clem replied, face palming herself but also smiling at how cute Luke could act…

"Uh, yes!" Luke said back, stopping Clem from walking as he placed his hands on her shoulders and looking straight into her golden yellow eyes.

Clem sighed and rolled her eyes but then looked straight back into Luke's.

"I just do." Clem answered back, attempting to break free of Luke's firm grasp. However, he wasn't going to let her.

"Clem…" Luke replied still looking straight at Clem with a small smile appearing on his face.

Once again, Clem rolled her eyes. Might as well tell him…

"My parents used to point out the colour of my eyes a lot."

"They used to say how unique they were…"

Luke listened to Clem as she shared another one of her interesting stories. He'd always love listening to what Clem had to say. It would always be interesting even if she thought it was dumb…

"But I hated them…"

"They reminded me of wolf eyes because of the colour…"

"I hate wolves just as much as I hate walkers…"

Clem stared down at the ground as she spoke. She really didn't understand why Luke would want to hear her complain about something so simple as her eye colour…

"But your eyes are more golden coloured. Not like wolves…" Luke said stroking her Clem's left cheek.

Clem looked up into Luke's brown eyes as he did the same to hers.

" I still see them as yellow, like a wolf."

"I hate yellow because of it." Clem replied looking slightly angered by it.

Luke couldn't help to think that Clem looked adorable when she was frustrated over small things like her eye colour.

He lifted Clem's face, cupping it with both hands and said: "You are beautiful to me."

"I love your eyes, I love everything about you…"

"You may not like your eyes but there's someone here who doe's… and that's me." Luke said sweetly as Clem seemed to have been lost within Luke's caring brown eyes.

Clem smiled, completely lost for words. She didn't know what to say other than: "Thank you" but yet, she still felt bad for not saying anymore.

She coughed awkwardly and released herself form Luke's gentle grip…

"We should get going…" Clem mentioned, trying to sound as kind as possible. She didn't want to feel butterfly's in her stomach anymore, but Luke was just so frickin adorable! Honestly nothing could hold him down…

Luke agreed, adjusting his machete on his back slightly and got moving once again.

* * *

><p>The duo was getting closer and closer to the cabin as time went by, but stopping them was a small but very steep hill. It was almost vertical and there was nothing that could support Luke or Clem as they would try and attempt to climb.<p>

"Well this is fucked…" Luke said as he mentally tried to figure out a way that he and Clem could get up the small hill.

There was no way under or around it. It was a part of the mountain that happened to have 'grown' on the pathway.

Clem nodded in agreement.

"Well it's small so we could try and do a runner."

"Just sprint as fast we can…" Clem explained.

"Yeah we could." Luke agreed.

"But it looks damn slippery…"

Clem nodded while scratching her head.

"We'll both hold onto each other's arms and on 'three' we will run as quick as possible up and over it…" Clem suggested studying the hill.

"Yeah okay." Luke replied letting out a small chuckle.

"One…"

"Two…"

"Three!"

Both Clem and Luke held onto each other for dear life as they sprinted up the small (but steep) hill, covered in slippery frost.

They lost their footing a few times, landing on their ass's but still clinging onto one another.

They both slipped in unison but Clem was the first to start sliding back down the hill.

Instead of both screaming in panic, Clem and Luke ended up in hysterics, acting like children as they stumbled to gain footing several times. Each time they took each other's arm in their own; one would usually slip away, slowly sliding down the hill as if it were a slide.

Clem had accidently let go of Luke's arm and went sliding down the hill (yet again) as she tried to dig her fingernails into the solid earth beneath her.

"Help! Luke! Save me!" Clem called while crying out with laughter. She was laughing so hard that she didn't have the energy to push herself up the hill.

Luke looked down to see a laughing Clem slowly sliding down the hill while desperately trying to cling onto something to stop her self…

Luke was also laughing in hysterics but was gripping onto a crack in the hill to stop him self from plunging to his doom.

Instead of waiting for Clem to scramble back up the hill, he flipped over so he was lying flat on his stomach and let go of the crack and went sliding down the hill on his belly.

"I'll save you Clementine!" he cried with a huge smile on his face.

Clem looked up to see Luke coming down, flat on his stomach. She was now crying with laughter. Never before has she been this happy. All the bad in life were pushed to the back of her mind…

Right now it was just Luke and her self, acting like children, on a slippery hill, on a mountain… What could be better?

* * *

><p>Luke came plunging into Clem's outstretched arms, pushing her over slightly so he was on top of her small frame. Their faces were red from the extreme laughing and crying, and their cheeks aching from all the excitement.<p>

"I'm sorry." Luke said, finally managing to catch his breath as he got up off Clem's small figure.

"Oh my gosh, it's okay Luke!"

"I've never had that much fun in my entire life!" Clem replied trying to get her breathing back to normal.

Luke smiled and stood up, stretching his arm out towards Clem's.

She took hold of his hand as he pulled her up back onto her feet.

"Well, we need to get up this damn hill Clem…" Luke said while brushing off some dirt on his orange jumper.

Clem agreed.

"But, we'll have a race…"

Luke smirked. He knew Clem was up to something.

"Whoever loses, will one day have to lay naked in the snow for five minutes!" Clem explained with a massive mischievous grin on her face.

Luke let out a small chuckle.

"Deal." He said while shaking hands with Clem.

"But, we have to carry out the forfeit when we're somewhere safe and when it's actually snowing…" Luke said looking up into the sky.

"Of course…" Clem replied adjusting her hat.

For once in life, this was going to be a time where you could have your own usual fun, without being disturbed by the damn apocalypse…

And Clem and Luke were going to make sure it happens…


	8. A Familiar Face & The Cabin

**Chapter 8- A Familiar Face & The Cabin**

"Oh my god, Luke, I win!" Clem said as she balanced on the top of the hill, her and Luke have been trying to get up for around fifteen minutes now.

"Fuck." Luke mumbled as he finally managed to make it to the top.

Clem laughed and grabbed his arm, pulling him up.

"I guess you have to lay naked in the snow." Clem pointed out, teasing Luke with a huge grin on her face.

"When the time comes." The brunette replied, brushing frost off of his orange sweater.

Clem giggled in reply and slid her way down the hill with Luke following in pursuit.

"You know I…" Clem stopped her sentence when she got up to see a woman walking towards her and Luke. Behind her, Clem could see the cabin. She felt relieved but to now know that this woman most likely lives in it, Clem could only hope she was friendly.

Luke got up and held Clem close to him in a protective manner. He bought his hand closer to his pistol in his back pocket, hoping he wouldn't have to draw it any time soon. Clem did the same with hers.

* * *

><p>The woman had a threatening look on her face as she held up her hunting rifle pointing in the direction of both Clem and Luke. Her shoulder length black hair, (with bangs) and green eyes made her look menacing and intimidating. She also had fair skin and was quite tall.<p>

The frightening woman also wore a camouflage tank top with a dark green army jacket on top. She had a bandage wrapped around her left sleeve, and light brown khaki pants. Brown leather boots with thick buckles completed her menacing attire.

It also didn't help that she had not only a hunting rifle, but also a scabbard attached to her belt, which looked like it carried some sort of dagger. It took a while to figure out, but Luke realised it was some sort of hunting sword. They were rare to find.

A pistol also sat comfortably in her belt…

"Having fun?" the woman asked in a sarcastic manner.

Clem and Luke both looked at each other, expression blank as they both realised that the woman must have been watching them the entire time. Unfortunately, this was not the time to giggle because they have just been embarrassingly caught out; the woman was holding both of them at near gunpoint.

"We mean no trouble, honestly." Luke replied.

"I asked you a question."

"Having fun there?" the woman asked again in a more sarcastic manner than before.

Clem looked up at Luke and he did the same. Damn, this was embarrassing…

"Well, yeah…uh, we were…" Clem replied awkwardly but honestly.

The woman let out an evil grin and chuckled.

"You came here to steal from us but first you wanted to have your fun time on a hill!" she said in a mocking tone.

The pair was lost for words, not knowing whether they should try and turn back or not.

"Look, I'm Clementine, or as preferred, Clem…"

"…And this is Luke." Clem explained, releasing her self from Luke's arms and bravely stepping forward in front of the woman's view.

"I don't care about your names."

"I want to know if you're trying to steal from us." The woman continued, sounding more serious now rather than sarcastic and witty.

"No, no we promise! We were simply coming up into the mountains to keep away from the walkers and we saw the cabin and…" Luke also stepped forward and explained, sounding a little too desperate rather than keeping calm like Clem however, the woman interrupted.

"You saw the cabin and came to steal from us!" she repeated, stepping forward pointing the rifle at Luke instead.

Just as the woman said 'us', four more people came out from the front door of the cabin. They all came walking towards to trio and immediately Clem and Luke froze to see a familiar face approaching.

* * *

><p>…<p>

"Bonnie?" they both said in unison.

The red haired woman was also in shock as she walked up to the black haired woman's side.

"Uh, hey…" she said rubbing her arm.

She looked guilty from doing something but there was nothing to feel regret for. Her and Mike simply went missing from Clem's and Luke's original group…

"Whoa, easy Turner!" a very tall man said coming to the black haired woman's side, getting her to lower her rifle.

"My names Erica for the last time Jacob!" she said almost shouting. She suddenly felt regretful for her tone of voice as the tall man looked taken aback slightly.

Clem and Luke just watched and listened out for any information the group was saying...

So there was Bonnie. Clem knew that was the missing person from her vision… There was also Erica whose surname must 'of been Turner. She was the woman who came across them as suspicious and rude.

Then there seemed to be Jacob, who seemed kind enough to stop Erica from potentially killing them both…

The other girl and boy though, well they just seemed to be watching in silence.

Bonnie then came forward with a small smile on her face. She still looked the same as she did those many months ago, wearing the same clothes and had the same hairstyle. Her face looked tired and her eyes showed pain. Maybe it was Mike… However, she looked in good shape health wise…

"Nice to see ya'll" Bonnie said to Clem and Luke.

They both smiled back and suddenly Clem stepped forward and just pulled Bonnie in for a hug. It was quite random, especially for Clem but she was just glad to have another familiar face around.

Bonnie was taken aback at first but didn't pull back from the embrace and instead, wrapped her arms around Clem's small figure. She looked up at Luke who smiled at her in return.

Once both young women separated; Luke pulled Bonnie into a hug as well, which the red haired woman gladly accepted and hugged back.

The group that Clem and Luke didn't know were muttering amongst themselves, looking slightly relieved that Bonnie recognized and knew the two.

Once Clem, Luke and Bonnie shared a small embrace Bonnie turned around to her group and smiled, giving the sign that Clem and Luke were in fact, no thieves or here to cause any problems.

Erica, the one who wore army themed attire scoffed slightly and looked down at the ground in shame for trying to terrorize Bonnie's friends.

"They mean no harm, they can stay with us right?" Bonnie asked the tall man whose name was Jacob from what Clem and Luke remembered.

The man politely smiled and answered: "Yeah, of course they can!" earning a glare from Erica, while the two other people behind them stayed silent.

Clem could not describe how relieved she felt. She looked up at Luke who smiled down at her, obviously relieved himself.

"Well? Introduce yourselves." Bonnie said to the rest of the group.

"Maybe we should go inside first, it's fucking cold out here!" Jacob suggested.

"Yes, that would better." Bonnie replied chuckling a little.

* * *

><p>Jacob, Erica and the other two people made their way inside with Bonnie, Clem and Luke following beside her.<p>

"It's great to see some familiar faces." Bonnie cheerfully said to both Clem and Luke.

They both agreed smiling but what they wanted to know was, where was Mike?

Probably the same thing that happens to most people, Clem thought to her self.

As Clem and Luke entered, they were mesmerized by the comfort of the small cabin. It was warm with a fire going on in the fireplace.

There were three sofas big enough to fit two people on each and a single armchair. Decorations were hung all over the walls and there was a big kitchen that looked full of good food. There also seemed to be a door that must 'of lead to the other rooms, like the bathroom and bedrooms…

Clem thought back to the old ski lift she saw on the side of the mountain those many days ago… The person or persons who owned the ski resort must 'of lived here… Well that explained the pile of wood that the group passed to get to the front door. It must have been used to burn the corpses of the walkers that the group killed…

* * *

><p>"You two can sit here for now." Bonnie said turning to Clem and Luke and gesturing to a blue sofa. Clem and Luke smiled in appreciation.<p>

"I'll make you some soup!" Bonnie said.

"Thanks Bonnie" Luke replied as he and Clem sat down for the first time in forever on something actually worth sitting on.

She nodded her head and turned to head into the kitchen.

Erica scoffed yet again as she watched Bonnie happily walk into the kitchen.

She defiantly had a problem with new people…

* * *

><p>Once everybody was seated, one by one the group introduced themselves.<p>

Clem and Luke started with their stories. The group listened intently except Erica who was slumped in her armchair playing with her hair. Jacob leant over on his seat and nudged Erica's arm and told her to listen, in which she just sighed and rolled her eyes.

...

"Wow you've been through shit." Jacob said once Luke finished explaining how him and Clem split from each other and got lost.

Luke and Clem nodded in agreement, glad that at least the big guy who looked like he could be quite intimidating, understood them.

Now it was the group's turn to talk about themselves. Bonnie came over with two bowls of hot soup, which Clem and Luke accepted with thanks. Bonnie then took a seat next to Jacob.

"Well I'm Jacob Johnson and I'm 25."

"You can also call me JJ if you like!" Jacob said and winked.

Jacob was very tall and very muscular. He could probably even lift Luke up! He had a medium tan, blue eyes and shoulder length straight hair, which was a dirty blonde colour. He had a strong jaw, which reminded Clem of Luke's a bit. A cut could also be seen on his left ear.

He wore a long sleeved green plaid shirt, light blue ripped jeans and black running shoes. An orange hoodie was wrapped around his waist and he also wore a grey beanie on his head…

"I like to hunt with Erica over here…" Jacob continued while pointing at Erica who just ignored him.

"I like using my hunting rifle, my small machete and my gun, which is a magnum .44…"

Also around his waist, Jacob wore a thick black belt, which neatly carried his small machete and magnum.44.

"I had a brother named Lucas and a sister called Kalyee…" Jacob slowly stopped talking as he mentioned his family.

"I don't know where they are."

"But I met up with Seth and Erica and we found this place!" Jacob explained pointing at the teenaged boy sat on the other sofa.

_So the other boy was Seth… _both Clem and Luke thought.

* * *

><p>After Jacob finished his story, he pointed towards Erica who sighed before telling parts of how she got to the cabin.<p>

"I'm Erica Turner, I'm 26 and I hunt with Jacob using my hunting rifle… I also like to use my hunting sword and pistol." She pointed towards her belt, which Clem and Luke both looked at. If the others hadn't of showed up, they could have been killed with the exact weapons Erica was mentioning! It was a scary feeling.

Erica then went on to mention her old group and how she got lost from them. She also mentioned getting shot by bandits in the arm in which she pointed to the bandage that she still kept tied tight to her arm. Clem remembered seeing the bandage when they were outside.

"I needed help and I saw this cabin... as I walked here, I met Jacob and Seth on the way and continued on with them..."

As Erica came to an end to her story, Clem and Luke couldn't help but feel sorry for both Jacob and her because they went through some terrible times… But who didn't. They now expected to hear a sad story from both Seth and also the other girl who hasn't been mentioned by anyone yet…

* * *

><p>Erica was now done with her story and looked towards to Seth who seemed quite shy but introduced himself slowly.<p>

"I'm Seth Chambers and I'm 19…"

Seth was shy and quiet. He had light skin and light brown eyes. His dark brown hair was tied back into a short ponytail. Clem and Luke noticed when he smiled shyly; he had dimples which Clem thought was really cute.

He wore a sea blue hoodie with dark blue baggy jeans. He also wore a pair of surprisingly quite clean red converse and grey fingerless gloves.

"I really want to go hunting but I don't like killing animals, or people… I don't really like killing but I used a pistol and I also have a Swiss army knife my brother gave me…" Seth continued.

"My parents are dead and my brother, Sonny is missing… He is 28." Seth finished.

Clem and Luke knew Seth was going to say something sad. He was only 19 and lost both his parents and his brother is presumed dead. But nowadays everyone had a sad story to tell… What was least to be expected?

* * *

><p>Seth then looked over to the girl sitting next to him.<p>

She smiled and looked over to Clem and Luke.

"Hello I'm Imogen Liddle and I'm 22!"

Imogen sounded quite cheerful and seemed to have taken a liking to Clem and Luke straight away.

She had fair skin, blue eyes and blonde wavy hair tied into a messy side ponytail. Clem could also remember Imogen from outside. She was quite short, maybe a little shorter than she was… Imogen was also the same age as Clem, which was quite interesting to her.

She wore a plaid shirt similar to Jacob's but red. A simple black leather jacket was worn on top.

Imogen also wore ripped dark blue jeans and army boots that came up to just under her knees.

"I stay here with Seth and Bonnie while Jacob and Erica hunt… However, when there's walker's I use a pistol and a axe." The blonde girl pointed to the axe that lay on the table. It looked similar to the one Clem remembered Lee using...

"I love to sing and play guitar!" Imogen said happily, jumping out of her seat and picking up an old looking guitar from behind the sofa. She took her seat next to Seth once again and strummed the strings as she spoke.

Erica rolled her eyes for like the millionth time today, which Clem found really annoying. Jacob, Seth and Bonnie chuckled slightly giving the impression to the pair that Imogen get's this excited quite often…

Luke however was intrigued. He loved playing the guitar! Singing was something he also liked doing but he felt more comfortable when he sung with Nick...

* * *

><p>Imogen's story was that she was alone just like everyone else and came across Mike and Bonnie. She didn't explain what happened to Mike because she could see Bonnie's face turn quite upset. Clem and Luke just assumed Mike unfortunately didn't make it…<p>

"Bonnie and I travelled up the mountains to find these guys!" Imogen continued while lifting a finger from the guitar to point at Jacob, Seth and Erica.

They all smiled and exchanged looks.

"So, that's us!" Bonnie spoke up, standing up to take Clem and Luke's now empty soup bowls. She walked into the kitchen placing the bowls in the sink and then came back.

"Seems like you all had a tough start." Luke said.

"Haven't we all." Erica finally said after being silent for a long while.

"Well thank you anyway for showing us kindness." Clem replied looking at everybody.

As Clem said 'kindness' Erica looked over to Clem who was already looking back to her. She rolled her eyes again and went back to playing with her hair and picking at her nails.

"It's going to snow any day soon so your welcome to stay!" Jacob piped up.

"You really didn't have to but thank you." Luke replied to Jacob.

"No prob mate." Jacob said back to Luke.

After a few seconds of awkward silence Imogen once again, perked up and asked if she could sing some songs.

Clem thought Imogen was really adorable in a way. She felt like it would hurt to see her sad. People like Imogen are amazing; they can stay so positive even through the toughest times. Clem admired that.

* * *

><p>Just then, Imogen started stumming the strings on her guitar. It made beautiful sounds and Luke of course, was lost in the sound.<p>

Today started off pretty bad but suddenly it became great. It was like gods gift!

Clem and Luke couldn't wish for anymore.

Tonight was going to be perfect.

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you MicidonalBoss for letting me use Jacob Johnson! He was a great addition!<strong>

**Also, thank you Daisymeadow for the idea of bringing Bonnie back!**

**The other OC's were created by me as no one else gave OC ideas for me to use... :)**


	9. In The Pines Where The Sun Never Shines

**Chapter 9- In The Pines Where The Sun Never Shines**

"Any song suggestions?" Imogen asked while strumming the strings on her guitar lightly.

"nah, you sung all of ours already…" Jacob replied with a small grin on his face.

"It's true, I can't think of anymore songs now that Imogen's sung them all!" Bonnie said.

"Any you've heard of?" Bonnie asked both Luke and Clem.

"Not really…" Clem answered, shrugging her shoulders.

She felt awkward being in Erica's view. She felt her cold gaze watching her from the armchair…

"I've got one." Luke said sitting up on the sofa.

Everyone looked fascinated and followed suit by sitting up in their seats, all eyes fixed on Luke. Imogen, of course was excited to hear and so was Clem. She'd never really heard Luke sing properly before.

Luke noticed how fascinated everyone in the room had seen to have gotten and suddenly regretted saying he was going to sing.

_Oh fuck… _Luke thought to himself before taking a deep breath.

_Come on man, you can do it! We sung to each other, remember? _

_We we're drunk Nick!_

_Stop being a pussy and sing!_

_Okay, fine…_

Taking another deep breath, quietly Luke started singing, watching Imogen to see if she will pick up on the song and start strumming her guitar along with the tune.

_**Little girl, little girl, don't lie to me.**_

_**Tell me where did you sleep last night?**_

_**In the pines, in the pines, where the sun never shines…**_

_**Will shiver the whole night through.**_

Clem watched in awe as Luke nervously sang, he occasionally turned his head around to glance at her as he continued. She smiled and he sang a bit louder.

After a moment of thinking, Imogen immediately knew what song Luke was singing and started to sing the next verse along with strumming her guitar.

_**My Daddy, was a railroad man.**_

_**Killed a mile and a half from here.**_

_**His head, was found, in a drivers wheel…**_

_**His body was never found.**_

Together Luke and Imogen started singing while Clem quietly hummed along. Erica also, took a slight interest and sat up to hear Luke and Imogen's beautiful voices mix together.

Seth watched Imogen's fingers lightly strum the guitar strings while Jacob and Bonnie sat back relaxing to the sounds of the melody.

The song was quite dark and depressing, but the sound of the guitar and voices fused together made everything seem bright and happy. But nothing was stopping them from singing this song. It was the truth. The world was dark and depressing anyway…

_**In the pines, in the pines, where the sun never shines…**_

_**Will shiver the whole the night through.**_

_**You've caused me to weep, you've caused me to mourn. **_

_**You've caused me to lose my home.**_

_**Little girl, Little girl, don't lie to me.**_

_**Where'd you sleep last night?**_

_**Not even your mother knows.**_

_**In the pines, in the pines, where the sun never shines…**_

_**Will shiver when the cold winds blow.**_

A few strums on the guitar later, the song ended with a chilling silence. Luke looked away nervously and embarrassed but Imogen had a huge grin on her face once the song was over.

"Wow." Jacob said all of a sudden, earning a few laughs from the rest.

"That was beautiful!" Bonnie said afterwards clapping her hands with a big smile on her face.

"Thank you!" Imogen replied with a huge smile still plastered on her face. She really didn't act her age but Clem and Luke still found it cute however.

"Thanks Bonnie." Luke also replied looking up at Bonnie who seemed to be wiping away a few tears.

"That defiantly _was_ something…" Clem said to Luke almost in a whisper sort of tone.

Luke smiled down at Clem and thought back to when Nick and himself used to sing… Not the serious singing with a meaning… The drunk singing.

Ah, the memories… that Nick would most likely deny.

* * *

><p><span><strong>Flashback<strong>

"Dude, Luke, pass me another beer."

Nick was sprawled across the couch while Luke was sitting cross-legged on the floor muttering something random to himself.

The two of them had _way_ too much to drink and Luke could feel the alcohol affecting him as he found himself talking random nonsense and feeling a little too happy about the smallest of things.

Nick however, wanted _more_ to drink. He wouldn't feel sick until morning…

"Nah man, you had like… like ten!" Luke replied now laying on the carpet with his hands in the air, counting his, fingers?

"Ten what? I can count to ten!" Nick said back, taking his hat off and throwing it randomly across the room. He then held his fingers in the air and counted to ten…

"One, two, three, four, five, seven, eight, nine, ten!"

"See Luke!"

"Mommy's gonna be so proud of Nick, wait, I'm Nick, haha!" Nick continued, grinning wildly at the ceiling.

"You missed six!" Luke said trying to sit up.

"I missed sex?" Nick questioned, now playing with a piece of string he found in the couch.

"What?" Luke asked.

"Never mind, Let's sing!" Nick said happily.

"Can you feel the love tonight?" Nick started singing at the top of his lungs.

Luke laughed and sang along to the Lion king songs that Nick randomly picked out.

Suddenly a loud banging sound could be heard from what sounded like next door.

"Neighbour's are angry Luke." Nick said, stopping in the middle of his song, looking over to Luke who was now back to lying on the carpet, his brown hair a complete mess.

"Who cares?" he replied before looking over to Nick with a huge grin on his face.

Nick burst out in laughter as Luke did the eyebrow wiggle thing towards him.

"And I will walk five hundred miles, and I will walk five hundred more!" Nick continued singing as loud as possible, a completely random song.

"That's not the words!" Luke shouted over Nick's voice.

"And I will eat five hundred doughnuts!" Luke continued singing as loud as Nick was.

"Doughnuts?!" Nick asked, trying to shout over Luke.

Luke just completely ignores Nick and continued to sing another song…

"It's Friday, Friday…"

"Gettin' down on Friday!" Nick tags along, singing…

**A few minutes later...**

"Let's sing the discovery channel song!" Nick mentioned to Luke happily.

"Yeah!" Luke replied. And with that, together they sang, just as loud as before...

"You and me baby aint nothin but mammals, so let's do it how they do on the discovery channel."

Without realising what they both just sang, both Luke and Nick turned to face each other in silence. They stared for a little while, expression blank before bursting out in laughter. Nick in the process fell off the couch and onto the carpet, while Luke seemed to have rolled away somewhere on the floor. It felt like an eternity that they both had been laughing, but Nick managed to pull himself back up onto the couch and with that, the two men started singing again…

After a couple dozen songs later, Luke collapses to sleep on the floor while Nick does the same but on the couch. Tonight was a good night but tomorrow was gonna be a hell of a morning.

And Luke still remembered from that day on…

* * *

><p>"Alright, I think we should get going to sleep now." Jacob mentions standing up and stretching.<p>

"Yup." Erica replied, walking out the living room and away into one of the other rooms without looking back once.

"I'll show you where you can sleep for the night." Bonnie said getting up to walk over to Clem and Luke.

"Thanks Bonnie, for everything so far." Clem replied, standing up with Luke following.

Bonnie smiled in return.

"Your welcome, really."

"Night guys." Jacob said, waving off Clem and Luke as he exited out of the room, humming the tune to the song that Luke and Imogen just sang. Luke and Clem chuckled as Jacob walked out.

Seth was next to leave, giving a small smile to the rest as he left. Imogen was about to leave too, but first came up to the three.

"Thanks for the song, I love that one!" Imogen said happily to Luke.

"No probs, you have a nice voice!" Luke replied smiling back at the blonde girl.

"Really? Thanks!" she said, quite cheerfully. She then skipped out of the room, placing the guitar down on the couch before leaving.

"They're great people." Bonnie said, once she was left alone with Clem and Luke.

"I can tell." Clem said smiling.

"Oh and, don't mind Erica, she's nice once she gets to know you…" Bonnie explained.

"I'm sure she is…" Clem replied simply, not too sure whether it was true or not.

"I'll take you to your room, it's also a single bed, sorry…" Bonnie explained walking towards the small hallway, gesturing to Clem and Luke to follow.

"It's okay, we're together anyway." Luke said smiling down at Clem.

"Together? Oh, right." Bonnie replied, sounding only the slightest bit shocked.

* * *

><p>Once finally at the room, Bonnie opened the door allowing Clem and Luke to step in. It was small and cosy but quite empty. There was a wooden chair in the corner and a small nightstand beside the bed. A basket with towels, and blankets were also in the corner.<p>

"There's some matches in the draw in the nightstand if you want more light." Bonnie explained, pointing towards some candles on the windowsill and nightstand.

"Thanks Bonnie" both Clem and Luke said in unison. She smiled once again and left the room, closing the door behind her.

"Not bad is it?" Luke said looking around the dark but warm room.

"Yeah, I like it." Clem said happily, walking over to the basket full of blankets and other items.

"I didn't get to tell you really, but your voice is amazing." Clem said while rummaging through the basket still.

Luke smiled.

"Thanks Clem, I bet you can sing too." He replied, smirking as she looked up at him.

"Not to save my life I can't." she chuckled in response.

"Oh sure…" Luke replied smiling, going through the nightstand to then pick up a matchbox. Luke then lit up a few candles to bring more light into the small room.

"I wonder if we can borrow these clothes for the night…" Clem said, lifting up some old clothing that she found in the basket.

Luke walked over to check them out also.

"Yeah, I'm sure they won't mind…"

And with that, they both went through the basket, picking out clothing that fit them…

* * *

><p>Finally, a good nights sleep. In a safe cabin... What could go wrong?<p> 


	10. Tickle Fights & Cosy Nights

**Chapter 10- Tickle Fights & Cosy Nights**

"Really? There are no clothes in here for a girl…" Clem sighed as she rummaged through the basket full of old clothes.

"It's only for the night, Clem." Luke said chuckling.

"hmm, found something for you Lu…" Clem replied, picking up a plain red shirt and grey jogging bottoms with pockets.

"Lu?" Luke asked with one eyebrow raised.

Clem smiled while shoving the clothing at Luke's chest.

"Yes, Lu…" Clem mocked Luke once again.

Luke ignored Clem, rolling his eyes but smirking. He then got up and changed from his mucky orange sweater and jeans to his used but fresh new clothing.

"Ah! Found something!" Clem said feeling happier now.

She bought out a shirt like the one she gave Luke, but this one was purple, her favourite colour… She also managed to find an identical pair of jogging bottoms to the ones she gave Luke, but in black.

Clem stood up and turned to face Luke, showing off her finds, but when she turned around, Luke was now in his grey jogging bottoms but shirtless.

"Luke…" Clem muttered, placing her new clothes down before attempting to pull off her light purple, blood-covered shirt.

Before Clem could even try to peel her clothes off, Luke walked towards Clem, lightly grabbing her waist.

The sudden touch sent shivers up Clem's spine as she blushed and looked up to Luke.

"You know you like it…" Luke said in a rather flirty, seductive tone.

"Well, yeah…" Clem truthfully said while biting her lip and blushing.

Who couldn't love the sight of Luke?

He was muscular and very toned on his torso… The apocalypse will always leave people with scars but it couldn't stop anyone from getting into shape. Even Clem could feel her muscles toughen up day by day…

Luke then leant down slowly but before he could do anything, Clem thought she would have a little fun… She pulled herself away from Luke's hold on her waist and quickly reached towards Luke to tickle his sides and stomach.

Immediately, Luke jumped back, surprised at first but then laughing almost painfully as Clem latched herself onto him, tickling Luke as much as she could before he took a hold of her.

"Clem! Stop! You're killing… me!" Luke pleaded in between breaths.

He was on the floor now, with Clem on top of him, tickling him as much as she could allow herself too.

Finally, Luke managed to use all his strength to grab Clem by the waist, yet again to then swap positions, with her now on the floor and Luke on top of her.

"Oh no, Luke, don't you…dare!" Clem quietly screamed while laughing hard as Luke immediately went to tickling Clem.

"Luke! I… stop!" Clem screamed in between breaths.

Luke then stopped and then started to lift Clem's dirty shirt up over her head, so that she was laying beneath him in just her bra and worn out jeans.

Clem stopped giggling and blushed wildly as Luke stared down at her with a wide grin on his face. Before Clem knew it, Luke was back to tickling her bare skin.

"No! Lu…" Clem screamed as Luke's fingertips made contact with her skin.

Clem desperately tried to push Luke off of her smaller figure, but he was just too strong, with one arm holding both her wrist's above her head and the other to tickle at Clem's stomach.

She screamed and laughed so much that it hurt. She just wanted to get back at Luke. But then she remembered… He would still have to lie in the snow naked at one point. For some reason, Clem couldn't wait for the cold weather to arrive. Plus, walkers would be slower in the cold… This was all too good.

Suddenly, a loud bang at the door was heard, before the door itself just swung open. Standing right there was Erica. Of all people…

She looked tired and disturbed.

Erica looked down to see Clem in her bra and jeans and Luke on top of her shirtless. She rolled her eyes at the sight.

Luke immediately jumped off of Clem's small frame and looked up at Erica who just watched his reaction. Clem also jumped up, not realising that she was in her bra just facing Erica herself.

"Can you two just go to bed, some of us are trying to sleep ya know!"

"We don't just let random people in so they can mess around… What is the world to you?!" Erica explained, looking extremely annoyed.

"We're goin' hunting tomorrow, so get sleeping!" she continued.

Before Clem could snap back at Erica's rude attitude, the door swung shut and Erica was gone…

Clem and Luke just stood in silence until they heard the faint sound of Erica's door slamming shut across the hallway from them.

"Well that was awkward…" Luke said, obviously embarrassed by the whole situation.

"Yep." Clem simply replied. She didn't know whether to hate Erica just yet… Hopefully Bonnie was right about her. Maybe she will become a better person at one point.

"I guess we should get to bed then…" Luke said sounding a little disappointed.

"Yeah, we should." Clem replied, looking up and giving a reassuring smile. She removed her jeans and replaced them with her new black jogging bottoms, along with the purple shirt. The clothes were sizes too big for Clem but they were warm and only for the night, so they would have to do.

Luke also pulled on his red shirt, complaining slightly as it was a size too small.

Clem giggled.

"Sorry bout that…"

Luke looked over to Clem and gave a small smile back.

"It's okay Clem…"

Once the pair were changed they both leapt into the small bed that was only meant for one person, after blowing out the candles.

"It's warm." Clem said happily while snuggling under the blanket.

"It is." Luke replied, wrapping an arm around Clem. She cuddled closer to Luke, feeling his warmth surround her.

"What do you make of these new people?" Luke asked Clem quietly.

"I like them all…" Clem replied happily again.

"Even Erica?" Luke asked surprised.

"Well, not particularly… but she'll grow on me sooner or later." Clem explained, at the same time hoping it would be true.

"Yeah, I think so too…" Luke said, pulling himself closer to Clem.

"I like Jacob. He looks all tough but is one of those people who just doesn't seem to take shit, ya know what I mean?" Clem explained, now thinking about Jacob.

"Yeah, he's cool." Luke replied.

People like Jacob are the people who Luke admired most. Not because they're tough and can do almost anything, but because they can still be friendly and not use their strengths to manipulate and over power others…

"Imogen and Seth are almost, cute in a way…" Clem explained, thinking back to the singing session.

"I know, Imogen is a great singer." Luke replied thinking back to when she sung along to 'In the Pines' with him while strumming the guitar.

"You know, Seth was watching Imogen in awe but at the same time was looking over to you a lot…" Clem said, nudging at Luke's side underneath the blankets.

"What do you mean by that?" Luke asked, confused.

"Well, I think he wishes he could sing like you, or something like that." Clem explained, not too sure whether she was right or not.

"I bet he could sing, being around Imogen this long…" Luke replied.

"Maybe he's too shy… Imogen was pretty excited when you started singing, maybe she always wanted a singing partner but no one offered up to sing along with her." Clem continued.

"Yeah, your right…" Luke replied before letting out a big yawn.

"Somebody's tired." Clem said smirking.

"Yep! We should get to sleep now, busy day tomorrow…" Luke explained.

"Yeah… night Lu…" Clem said teasingly before closing her eyes and cuddling Luke.

Luke rolled his eyes once again but smirked as he leant down to place a small kiss on Clem's forehead before shutting his eyes and letting sleep take him away.

Tomorrow was going to be a busy day.

As winter was on it's way, last minute hunting was crucial.

However, tonight was going to be full of sweet dreams and warmth. Clem and Luke had to treasure it now because one day, one day… It will be gone.


	11. I'm The One Who's Waiting

**Chapter 11- I'm The One Who's Waiting**

**Luke's dream**

He opened his eyes to be surrounded by sudden warmth.

The sky was clear of darkness and instead swarmed by pearly blue and the miscellaneous splashes of pure, soft white…

Luke inhaled to breath the fresh, clean air; disease no longer lied upon it… The green cut grass intertwined with his fingers, as he lied still, staring into the azure.

This was heaven…

But only a vision…

The surroundings felt clean but Luke didn't… He was not meant to be here because he'd hadn't fallen just yet…

Clementine knew this feeling.

Luke slowly lifted himself up off the green bed of grass; watching the peaceful emptiness greet him, however, not welcome him… just yet.

Suddenly, faded figures clothed in white emerged from the forest of trees. One by one, they waved and Luke waved back with a smile on his face.

He stood up gradually, taking in each and everyone's features. They all looked happy and peaceful… No scars for them to remember, no pain for them to see. The nightmares were over.

Everybody seemed so different… It had been months since Luke seen a friend of his die.

There stood, Nick, Pete, Carlos, Alvin, Rebecca, Sarah… but also his parents, grandparents, childhood friends… It seemed like centuries ago he got to see their faces. It brought a tear to his eye.

Luke took steps forward; guilty that he was walking in such a fresh place looking like a mess. After a few more steps, only being a few yards from his friends and family, Luke stopped. Well, he didn't but it was almost like an invisible wall separated him from his loved ones.

With a saddened smile, Luke watched as the crowd of fallen suddenly took small steps backwards into the forest. The further they got away, the more their bodies would fade from Luke's sight. His time seeing them was up. They shared a sad smile with Luke before finally departing, however someone stayed…

Nick looked back to see everyone disappearing, calling out for him, the further away they got. Luke watched Nick turned back to face him. He gave him a sad smile before turning to join the others.

"Wait." Luke tried to say but it turned into more of a whisper.

Nick automatically looked back to his best friend who had pleading eyes, very puppy dog like…

The dark haired man gave yet again another smile, this time a lot more brighter and joyful… His blue eyes were bright with life and his thin white clothing only made him seem so pure and... immortal in Luke's eyes.

"I'm the one who's waiting…" Nick whispered before fading away slowly into the background. It was sad seeing him go... One moment he was there, then the next he wasn't...

Luke knew what this meant. He understood almost immediately that Nick was waiting for his life to end so that his new one could begin…

"In time Nick… In time." Luke whispered into the emptiness of the forest.

"Okay." Came a faint reply in the thin air.

Although Luke couldn't see Nick, he was always there along with everyone else…

_Maybe I do want to be dead…_

* * *

><p>Opening his eyes, Luke was greeted with blurred vision and sudden light. Blinking heavily, the blurry-ness gradually faded away, leaving a view of an empty, quiet room.<p>

Several knocks startled Luke, leaving his heart pounding for a few moments.

"Ye…yeah?" Luke groggily called out to the door.

The door swung open slowly and a cheerful Bonnie stood by the doorway.

"Wake up sleepy head! You gotta get going soon!" Bonnie said walking over to the window to open the curtains.

The extra light blinded Luke for a second, causing him to scrunch up his face in a look of contempt.

Bonnie noticed and laughed as Luke kept rubbing his eyes to keep him awake. His bed head was also a humorous sight too.

"Sorry bout that, but get up!" She said while laughing still.

"Okay, okay…" Luke replied yawning.

He then looked over to his side to notice Clem was missing. Her night clothing was neatly folded on the side of the bed and her original clothing was gone.

"Wher…Where's Clem?" Luke asked, pulling himself out of bed while stretching.

"She's already up and has eaten." Bonnie replied while exiting the room.

"Wait, what time is it?" Luke asked just as Bonnie got to the door.

"When last I looked, 9:20am…" Bonnie said, chuckling slightly as Luke looked down in embarrassment.

"Well, I'm off for now but come out soon because Erica and Jacob want you to go hunting with them asap…" Bonnie explained while walking out.

Luke jumped up in a flash and stripped out of his nightwear and into his worn out orange sweater and jeans. He then exited the room and walked into another room, which happened to be the bathroom, and rinsed his face and used his fingers to comb his wild brown hair.

Once satisfied, Luke made his way to the main room where Bonnie was in the kitchen getting what seemed to be peaches and beans ready, Jacob and Seth were talking to each other on one of the couch's, Clem and Imogen were also happily talking to one another on another couch, and Erica was standing near the front door looking out into the open through the window. Obviously she wasn't in the mood for talking to anyone…

Noticing Luke's presence, Clem looked away from Imogen to smile up at Luke as he sat down on one of the free couches.

"Hi Luke!" Imogen said happily before Clem could greet him first.

"Hey!" Luke replied with a smile.

"Someone had a really good dream last night." Clem said smirking.

"Yeah, uh… it was good." Luke replied scratching his head.

"Hey Luke!" Jacob called over from the opposite couch.

"Hey man!" Luke replied smiling.

Seth gave a small smile, which Luke returned and Erica slowly turned her head to look at Luke before sighing and going back to staring out the window.

She was probably annoyed that Luke woke up late, as she looked ready to leave the cabin. She had her same outfit on as yesterday (same with everybody else) and also had her hunting rifle slung around her shoulder.

"So what was your dream about?" Clem asked, curious. Imogen also listened while Jacob and Seth went back to talking.

"Well, uh… it wasn't a dream exactly but it was the vision." Luke explained as best as he could, looking towards Clem.

Clem nodded, understanding what Luke was talking about. She smiled at her partner knowing that he got to see his loved ones again. These visions were quite sad but relieving in a way… You at least know that your loved ones are safe…

"What vision are you talking about?" Imogen politely asked, but before Luke could answer, Bonnie came walking through with a bowl of food for Luke.

"Breakfast is ready!" Bonnie called out, happily handing over a bowl of, you guessed it. Peaches and beans…

"Wow, thanks Bonnie." Luke replied, gratefully taking the bowl out of Bonnie's hands.

"No prob." She said before walking back to the kitchen area to wash up some dishes.

As Luke started eating, Imogen looked over to Clem with questionable eyes. Clem looked to Imogen with the same face.

"So… what about this vision?" Imogen asked politely again.

"Oh, that…" Clem said, remembering her question.

"Well, basically I woke up in heaven and I saw my loved ones safe and sound… It was nice, really." Clem explained with a hint of sadness in her voice.

Luke nodded in agreement as he continued to devour his peaches and beans.

"Wow, that's… cool." Imogen said sounding interested but puzzled at the same time.

Before the three could continue their conversation, Erica looked away from the window and came walking over towards them, taking a seat next to Luke. She didn't say anything at first, just sat there looking at Clem then Luke. When Luke sensed her gaze, he slowly turned his head to face Erica who had a smug look on her face. He gulped down the food that was already in his mouth and gave Erica a questionable look.

Imogen watched the awkward staring contests taking place and just sat with a small grin on her face just like a humoured and confused child would.

Clem also gave a questionable look to Erica but decided not to say anything just yet…

"You done… yet?" Erica eventually spoke up to Luke with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

Luke said nothing as his face showed confusion. Clem got the feeling that he was feeling intimidated which was sort of funny to her...

"His bowl is not empty so, no." Clem spoke up for Luke instead as he said nothing, in which he just went back to slowly and awkwardly eating.

Erica turned her head to face Clem.

Clem's face was blank while Erica's had a surprised expression. God knows why though, Clem thought.

"Is something wrong?" Clem questioned, trying to sound calm, but she was clearly getting quite annoyed.

"No, no… It's just we need to go hunting soon…" Erica replied, exaggerating her tone of voice when she said 'soon'.

"Give him time, Turner!" Jacob suddenly called over before Clem could reply.

Erica darted her fierce green eyes towards Jacob with a look of annoyance plastered on her face.

"Do. Not. Call. Me. Turner!" Erica angrily replied to Jacob, eyebrows furrowed.

Noticing that Erica was clearly annoyed, Jacob raised his hands in surrender causing Imogen and Seth to let out a giggle between them. Jacob also chuckled slightly after Erica huffed, got out of her seat and stormed back to her original place next to the window.

Clem and Luke just grinned to each other with the same question in mind…

_What was wrong with this woman?!_

* * *

><p>Not long after Luke had finished eating, Jacob came over to the brunette to tell him to get his belongings ready. All he meant was for Luke to get his machete, really…<p>

Luke obliged, grabbing his machete and looking over to Clem to indicate her to come along.

Noticing this, Erica walked over towards Luke and Clem.

"Not her, she has to stay with Bonnie, Imogen and Seth…" Erica explained.

Jacob gave a confused glance over to Erica as he got his hunting rifle ready, but he didn't say anything.

"Firstly, this 'her' has a name… and secondly… what?" Clem asked confused.

Luke also looked just as confused.

"Fine, Clem… but you need to stay with Imogen and Seth because Bonnie is going to be working outside on the cabin…" Erica explained simply.

"They're not children and I'm not a babysitter!" Clem replied raising her voice a little. Erica was really starting to get on her nerves and Luke glared at Erica irritated.

"_You _don't know them…" Erica pathetically replied.

"Jacob! Tell them for me…" Erica called to Jacob.

Jacob came over to the group with a slight confused expression.

"Uh, Clem… could you, please stay here… just for today, ya know…" Jacob explained. He sounded nervous but guiltier rather than anxious. Was he going by Erica's orders?

"But why can't she come? Clem's great at hunting." Luke explained. Clem smiled at him in appreciation.

"Well… we uh, usually go in three's." Jacob replied. Obviously that was an excuse.

Because Jacob had been kind so far and not like Erica, Clem gave up and agreed to stay in the cabin. Luke gave her a sorry look but she just smiled and told him to stay safe.

"Stay safe, okay?" Clem said to Luke as Jacob and Erica made their way towards the door.

"Yep, always will… you too." Luke replied.

Clem reached up and gave a peck on Luke's lips. He blushed and followed Jacob and Erica out the door, machete in hand.

"Alright lovebirds…" Erica sarcastically commented. Jacob just chuckled, waving goodbye towards Clem, Bonnie, Seth and Imogen. They waved back in return as Erica lightly nudged Jacob out the door.

"See ya soon." Luke said before exiting.

"Bye!" Imogen called out. Seth, Clem and Bonnie laughed as Imogen turned to them with a huge grin on her face. Clem still couldn't help but to find her cute, especially the way she acted for her age… Her positivity reminded Clem of Sarah.

Although Clem was bummed she couldn't go out hunting and that Erica was becoming a right bitch lately, she was happy that she could have more time to talk to Imogen and Seth, as Bonnie was apparently going to be busy working outside…

She hoped she could find a little bit more about Seth…


	12. An Unexpected Confession

**Chapter 12- An Unexpected Confession**

"Alright ya'll, I'm gonna be working outside if you need me…" Bonnie explained, slipping on her jacket before exiting the cabin.

Clem gave a small nod before turning to look at Seth who was just sitting still on one of the sofa's staring into… well, nothing. Imogen was already gone, probably in her room or something along the lines.

"Hey, could I sit next to you?" Clem politely asked Seth.

He looked up confused at first, but then let out a small smile and nodded.

Clem smiled back in appreciation and took a seat next to the teenage boy.

"I'm sorry about Erica… she'll be nicer to you soon." Seth explained as Clem took a seat. He had his head hung in what looked like shame, as if he felt guilty of the way Erica treated Clem…

"I'm okay with it… I would be hostile as well." Clem quickly reassured Seth.

Seth smiled gratefully at Clem before quickly glancing away, focusing on the carpet rather than her.

Noticing his actions, Clem smiled. She hadn't come across a person this shy in a while…

"You don't have to be shy around me, Seth." Clem giggled as Seth looked up.

"Yeah…Okay, thanks…" Seth quickly replied.

Things went silent for a few moments after that... and Clem decided to continue the conversation.

"So… do you _like_ Imogen?" Clem decided to ask, a wild grin forming on her face.

Seth looked up in shock, not too sure on how to reply.

"I… no, no I don't!" Seth was quick to say, scratching his head randomly.

"Bonnie?" Clem asked, making the boy blush more than she expected.

"No." Seth was quick to reply once again. He hid his face away by attempting to bring up his blue hood.

"Hey!" Clem said, playfully swatting Seth's hand away from his hood.

Seth chuckled.

"Okay, how 'bout Erica?" Clem mentioned after Seth refused to place his hand near his hood again.

"What? No!" Seth yet again, replied with even more embarrassment lingering in his voice.

"Oh come on!" Clem replied, not believing anything Seth was saying to her.

"I think Imogen would be perfect for you! She seems fond of you…" Clem continued in a playful but mocking tone as Seth tried his best to hide away and not make anymore eye contact than he should.

"She's more like a sister to me really…" Seth explained.

"Oh really?" Clem asked, still believing that Seth was hiding something.

"Yes! I… I'm not into girls like her…" Seth replied rather shakily.

"She's sweet, she would be perfect for you!" Clem continued, playfully punching Seth's arm.

"Yeah, I'm not... I'm not into girls." Seth said.

Seth immediately regretted what just slipped out of his mouth. Clem stared wide eyed, shocked by this unexpected confession that wasn't even supposed to be said in the first place!

Seth covered his mouth quickly and with his other hand, pulled up his hood and buried himself into the corner of the sofa like a small child would.

There was no denying now…

Although Clem was shocked, she immediately felt guilty for pressuring such a question on a shy boy… She didn't mind that Seth was potentially a homosexual, but she still felt guilty for humiliating him.

"I'm so sorry Seth, I won't tell… please, I promise." Clem now was blabbering on…

Seth slowly lifted himself up to face Clem… he didn't wanted to be shy anymore and hide in the corner… A nineteen-year-old boy should know better!

"No, don't be sorry Clem, I… uh, everyone knows… except Luke." Seth explained with a shy but reassuring smile.

His voice shook slightly when he said Luke's name.

Clem gently smiled.

"I didn't suspect anything, I was just playing around ya know…" Clem explained, guilt still lingering in her voice.

Seth smiled gratefully.

"It's okay, I hope you don't have a problem… with me being uh… you know…" Seth quietly explained.

"No, no of course I don't! It's totally normal and I knew this man called Walter who had a boyfriend called Matthew… unfortunately they're both… they're both, dead."

Clem explained as best as she could. She didn't know Matthew that much as Nick shot him to protect her and Luke… But she knew Walter. He was a great guy.

"Thanks and I'm… I'm sorry to hear about that…" Seth replied fully understanding.

"Yeah, it just happens I guess…" Clem said, feeling a huge wave of sad memories hit her once again.

Seth nodded and looked down at his hands wondering what to say next. He never knew he could continue a conversation like this; he would usually try to hide away and be in his own little place.

Seth was alone most of the apocalypse until he met up with Jacob… maybe that's why he became so anti-social…

"So… are you and Luke together?" Seth asked quietly.

Clem looked up and smiled.

"Yeah, yeah we are…" She replied happily.

"Oh… right." Seth replied, going back to looking at his hands and playing with his blue sleeves.

Noticing his awkward reply, Clem glanced at Seth who didn't take notice as he was looking down…

"Is something… wrong?" Clem asked cautiously.

"No… no, nothing…" Seth looked up and reassured, trying to bring up a smile.

"Okay… I should maybe check to see if Bonnie needs anything…" Clem explained getting up out of her seat stretching her legs.

"Yeah… yeah, I should check on Imogen…" Seth replied, also getting up.

"It was nice talking to you." Clem said before she got to the door.

"Yeah, it was… thanks Clementine." Seth replied making his way to Imogen's room.

"Call me Clem…" Clem smiled as she walked out to find Bonnie.

Seth nodded before him and Clem were out of each others sight.

* * *

><p>"Another squirrel, great shot Erica!" Jacob cheered as he picked up the small squirrel before placing it in a small sack he bought along.<p>

"I've always been a good shot." Erica mentioned with a smirk on her face.

"Hey guys, shouldn't we like, not shoot, I mean what if walkers hear it?" Luke questioned, his machete in hand as he searched through the trees to find any sort of animal.

"How else are we going to catch an animal than can make a runner as quick as a rabbit or squirrel?" Erica sarcastically asked while lining up her hunting rifle to aim towards a small rabbit near a bush.

"If walkers hear, we make a run for it… Good thing it's cold up here, walker's are slow as fuck." Jacob explained with a small grin.

Before Luke could say anymore, the sound of Erica's rifle went off, startling Jacob and Luke for a second.

"Fuck!" the black haired woman cursed as the rabbit hopped away from the scene.

"Bad shot Erica." Jacob joked.

"Shut up!" she replied before walking off somewhere further into the forest, leaving Luke and Jacob alone.

"Girl's got a temper." Luke joked.

Jacob laughed.

"Yeah, yeah she does…"

"Hey thanks for coming with us man. You've got keen eyes…" Jacob explained, patting Luke on the shoulder, smiling down at him.

"Thanks but I haven't killed anything." Luke replied disappointed and slightly embarrassed.

"You'll get there… When your up north, hunting is a priority before winter sets in." Jacob continued while walking in the direction Erica stormed off, Luke following beside him.

"Yeah, I guessed that…" Luke replied.

Suddenly, a loud gunshot was heard near by, followed by Erica's swearing and the pleasant sound of walkers.

"Fuck! Erica?!" Jacob called out, starting to run towards Erica's figure.

Luke followed behind, struggling to keep up with Jacob. His long legs and clearly great stamina left Luke feeling slightly envious.

"I'm fine, just damn walkers!" Erica shouted, pulling out her hunting sword to drive into a walker's skull.

"We have to go!" Jacob shouted over the groans of the dead.

"How the fuck did they get here?" Erica shouted as the trio started sprinting back towards the mountain.

"The gunshot!" Luke replied.

"I'm not that dumb, lover boy!" Erica shouted over to Luke.

"Erica!" Jacob scolded.

"No, I mean, how did the walkers get here so fast in the fucking cold?!" Erica continued to shout angrily.

"Fuck knows why!" Jacob replied.

Eventually, the three made it back to the mountain. It was tiring as it was manly hills to get back to the cabin, but they got to the top in the end…

Luckily, they wouldn't have to the past the really steep hill Clem and Luke took time climbing over, as Jacob showed an easier way of getting round to the cabin…

"The walker's are following!" Luke shouted, looking back. He swore he saw a load of them, making their way up the mountain.

_Great, now walkers know how to get up mountains…_

"They fucking better not be!" Jacob shouted over to Luke.

"Well… I dunno really…" Luke replied still running behind Jacob and Erica.

"Lover boy's seeing things again!" Erica sarcastically mentioned over to Jacob.

"Cut it out!" Jacob snapped causing Erica to scrunch up her face angrily.

"Don't call me lover boy!" Luke shouted, now getting slightly pissed himself.

"Whatever." He heard Erica mumble.

Finally, Luke, Jacob and Erica made it to the cabin. Bonnie and Clem were outside working on the side of the cabin, patching it up in some way. They heard the three come running frantically towards them and looked up, worried expressions now plastered on their face's.

"Luke?!"

"What's going on?" Clem asked, panicking.

"Jacob, Erica… what's the commotion for?" Bonnie asked standing up confused.

"Just get inside!" Erica hissed, running straight pass the rest, ripping the door open.

Jacob and Bonnie followed with Luke and Clem behind.

"Luke?" Clem asked again, looking back to see nothing but to hear the faint sound of groans.

"Don't worry Clem, just get inside." Luke gently replied, letting Clem go inside first.

Once everybody was in, Seth and Imogen came rushing out to see the group's worried faces.

"Wha…what's going on?" Imogen shakily asked.

"Walkers." Jacob replied quickly before pacing over to one of the windows to check outside.

"Are the fuckers gone?" Erica asked impatiently.

"Yeah… kinda, but I don't know how long it will be until we have to leave this place…" Jacob explained worried.

"Leave?" Bonnie gasped.

"Fuck no! How the fuck do walkers get up here?!" Erica shouted.

"Calm down Erica!" Clem raised her voice.

"Don't fucking tell me to calm down!" Erica retorted.

"Alright!" Jacob shouted over the two girls.

"What do we do?" Luke asked worried, trying to keep calm.

"We're not going to have to leave?" Seth piped up, anxious himself.

...

"Fuck!" Erica shouted out looking down at her arm.

"What is it now?!" Bonnie asked, starting to get frustrated herself.

Erica looked up, fear rather than anger showing in her eyes.

"I'm bit..."

"I'm fucking bit!"


	13. Goodbye Safe Cabin

**Chapter 13- Goodbye Safe Cabin**

Clem felt her eardrum's burst as the sudden shriek of pain and agony left Erica on the ground on her knees. It took a moment to get back to reality, but Clem realised what just happened. She didn't want to watch so she did her best to turn to look over at Imogen who was screaming and crying in horror. Seth was just as wide-eyed, trying to hold Imogen, shielding her watery eyes away from what just took place.

Erica let out even more blood curdling cries of pain and agony, clutching onto what was left of her lower arm as she watched in horror as the crimson red blood poured out non-stop onto the carpet and all over her clothes.

"What did you do!?" Jacob cried out in shock over Erica's screams.

"I had to, she was bit!" Luke replied panicking, gripping onto his blood covered machete. His whole body trembled as he stared at the gory sight he had just caused.

The once, warm and cosy cabin was now a house full of screaming, crying and yelling. Jacob was trying to keep Erica still as she let out the loudest of all screams of pain; Luke was standing motionless, shock spread all over his face… Clem seemed out of it. She couldn't seem to get a hold of what was happening. She stumbled over to Luke, then Imogen, then Bonnie. She'd never witnessed such a brutal scene take place in a matter of seconds. Maybe the situation with Larry back in the day was one thing, but this was another...

Seth was holding onto a screaming Imogen who sobbed and cried every time she saw Erica's face full of pain and the blood soak the carpet. Bonnie was fumbling around the cabin, finding medicine and bandages to bind Erica's stump… In the meantime, Jacob ripped off his orange hoodie from his waist and quickly used it to apply pressure to Erica's new and painful amputated arm.

"We need to leave, now!" Jacob shouted, still holding onto Erica as her screaming turned into weeping. Her head was hanging and her eyes were closed, dizziness defiantly kicking in. Clem and Luke couldn't help but to feel the sympathy for her.

"Shit! Walkers are coming up!" Luke called out as he ran over to look out the same window Erica was looking out that morning.

"Everybody get your stuff packed! Bonnie I need you, c'mon!" Jacob shouted again, impatiently.

Imogen and Seth fled the scene, into their rooms to presumably gather supplies. Clem also picked up her axe and pistol with Luke also following her around to gather any other needed supplies.

Only a few seconds after, Bonnie rushed through with a long piece of white cloth; wasn't exactly a bandage but it was thick and good to wrap around Erica's stump.

"Erica listen to me, you're going to be fine!" Jacob reassured as calmly as possible, lifting Erica's head up to look at her. She let out a faint moan of discomfort as Bonnie removed Jacob's hoodie to immediately start wrapping the white cloth around her right arm.

Around two minutes later, everyone was back in the main room. Clem and Luke both had their weapons and each wore a dark grey backpack full of cans of beans, water and nutrition bars. Bonnie had her pistol with extra ammo, and a backpack with extra nutrition bars, breakfast biscuits and most importantly, all the medicine she could gather…

Imogen and Seth both carried sleeping bags on their backs, which would only be enough for two people to sleep for the night… Imogen also had her axe and Seth had his pistol.

Lastly, Jacob had slung his hunting rifle around his shoulder and he had his other weapons strapped in his belt. He carried none of the supplies but did carry Erica, as she wasn't conscious enough to run, or even walk!

"Let's go!" Bonnie shouted, looking out the window to see walkers approaching.

"We need to go down the other side of the mountain, we will be outnumbered!" Jacob called over to Bonnie as she went to open the front door.

"That's where I was going!" Bonnie called back, already out the door.

Jacob followed next with Erica grumbling and moaning in his arms, followed by Clem and Luke, then Imogen and Seth.

"Shit!" Clem said breathlessly, looking around to see that the walkers made it up the mountain and were now approaching the cabin. What also made it worse was that the weather dramatically changed and it started to lightly snow. A thin sheet of white was layered across the ground.

"So much for walkers gettin' slow!" Luke replied standing close to Clem. He had his machete out and ready and Clem had her axe also out and ready to strike.

"Cover me guys!" Jacob called out, starting to run around the cabin to get down the opposite side of the mountain. It was steeper than the regular path, but that was occupied… Anything that led to a safer place would have to do.

With a nod, Bonnie pulled out her pistol and started shooting at walkers who came close as she followed Jacob. Seth and Imogen went running after Bonnie also, Seth reluctant to start shooting… Imogen stopped a few times to swing her axe into chosen walkers who tried to touch her or Seth.

Clem and Luke were at the back, spending more time killing walkers instead of following the group. Eventually they gave in and followed behind Imogen and Seth. Both were surprised to see Imogen kick zombie ass as she swung her axe into individual walkers brains, grunting as she did so.

The way down the mountain was risky, especially with Jacob who had to carry Erica in his arms the whole journey…

It was slippery and most defiantly steep. Going too fast would be dangerous, going too slow would be dangerous. This had to be done carefully...

...

After a minute or so of making their way slowly down the mountain, the group finally reached the bottom and were now amongst the forest trees, not far from where Luke, Jacob and Erica hunted earlier on that day. Unfortunately the path was not as clear as the group expected. Walkers were still spread across the area, randomly standing around waiting to lunge onto their next meal.

"Kay guys, we head south!" Jacob called out between breaths as he struggled to run and carry Erica at the same time.

"I'll cover!" Bonnie called back.

"Me too!" Imogen also called out.

"Appreciated." Jacob yelled back with a small wink.

"You okay Clem?" Luke asked panting as he ran, trying to keep up with the group's speed.

Clem was also struggling but didn't give up just yet.

"Yeah, just worried…" She replied between breaths.

Luke gave a sad nod and continued on, occasionally stopping with Clem to put out walkers who decided they would try and 'jump scare' the two.

* * *

><p>Moments later, shit went down once again...<p>

...

"AH, fuck!" shouted what sounded like Jacob.

"Shit!" Bonnie muttered, running up to blonde man.

Jacob now had a hungry walker on top of him desperately trying to take a bite out of the tall man. Erica had limply fallen out of Jacob's arms and was now on the ground a few yards away. She had no energy and just seemed to be lying there…

"Erica!" Imogen screeched, dashing over to her body, however before she could make it, yet another walker had come out from beyond the trees and thrown itself on top of Erica's tired body.

"NO!" Jacob screamed, getting up after Bonnie put a bullet through the walker who was attempting to devour him.

"Fuck, it's got Erica!" Clem shouted as Luke and her tried to catch up with the rest. They were further behind as they stopped to put a few other walkers out of their misery on the way.

"Shit! This is my fault!" Luke said, looking down at his machete as he ran alongside Clem.

"This is nobody's fault!" Clem replied.

The two finally caught up with the rest of the group and stood beside a confused but shocked Seth. Imogen was desperately trying to pull the walkers away from Erica's body, surprisingly not making a move to use her axe… Jacob and Bonnie however, didn't have time to bring out their weapons to kill the walker.

Yet again, a blood curdling scream later, it was clear that the walker had sunk its rotten teeth within Erica's pale skin. There was nothing more the group could do. Bonnie shot the walker atop of the black haired woman and the remaining group ran to Erica's side.

She had a chunk of her shoulder ripped out, leaving even more blood surrounding her body and all over her army attire.

"Oh Fuck, Erica, no… please." Jacob pleaded, watching as Erica lied on the ground unmoving. Her eyes started to heavily drop, meaning she was going to go anytime soon.

The group could only watch her die.

"I'm sorry." She choked out, before everything about her became silent.

Jacob shed a few tears while Imogen wept alongside Bonnie who was rubbing her back soothingly to try and ease her nerves. Seth had a sad and pained expression as he watched a woman he'd known for a long time die in front of him. Luke and Clem were never really fond of Erica, but with a little time, they knew that she would grow on them… they couldn't help but to feel sympathy for the rest.

After a few moments of mourning Jacob finally stood up.

"We gotta go." Jacob said simply, standing up, rubbing his temples with his fingers.

"What about Erica?" Luke asked, noticing her arm twitch slightly.

"Shit." Jacob said turning around to obviously notice the dead in the woman start to rise.

Without hesitation, Jacob reached to his belt, pulling out his magnum.44 and lining it up to the woman's head.

"I'm sorry." He whispered before pulling the trigger.

The gunshot would attract more walkers but the group were in enough danger already… They would have to keep running anyway.

"Oh god…" Bonnie said, shielding Imogen's eyes away from the bloody mess.

Seth also let out a few tears before turning away to walk over to Clem and Luke.

"I'm sorry Seth…" Clem said, rubbing the boys shoulder.

"It's happened to all of us." He replied sadly.

Luke also placed his hand on Seth's shoulder and the boy looked up to the slightly taller man.

"Be strong okay? Cos strong is all we got now." Luke explained.

Seth let out a small smile which also made Clem smile slightly too.

"I will…" Seth whispered and Luke smiled.

* * *

><p>Walker groans echoed through the forest, kicking the group back into reality again.<p>

"C'mon, let's go!" Jacob called out, in which the group followed, leaving Erica's body behind on the frosty ground…


	14. A Safe Night Ahead

**Chapter 14- A Safe Night Ahead**

"We're not going to be safe down here…" Jacob explained breathlessly, hunched over with his hands on his knees taking deep breaths.

"Well, walkers just proved that we're not going to be safe up there either." Luke replied, indicating over to the mountain that the cabin was on.

It had been almost an hour of running, walking and just generally dragging feet along a muddy and frosty path…

Clem, Luke, Jacob, Bonnie, Imogen and Seth were all exhausted, hunched over gasping for air as the sweet sound of walkers mixed with the light wind in the far distance…

"I… I think we out ran them." Clem explained, straightening herself up so that she could look towards the mountains. The trees seemed to grow taller the further away from north, meaning the towering mountains were nearly out of view.

"We should take rest here…" Luke says, taking a seat in front of a large fallen tree, leaning back on it. Clem followed and sat next to the brunette, leaning slightly against his shoulder.

"You think it's safe?" Jacob asks concerned, straightening himself up and searching the forest around him with his eyes.

"Should be… for now." Luke replies, wiping the sweat off his forehead with his hand.

"Please, Jacob… we're all tired." Imogen adds, giving the famous puppy eyes towards the paranoid blonde haired man. Bonnie and Seth also sided with Imogen, nodding their heads in agreement.

"Fine." He replied, taking seat against the trunk of a tree opposite of where Clem and Luke were sitting.

Imogen smiled towards Seth, in which the teen boy smiled back, grateful for a rest stop. The two then sat down next to each other on the ground, leaning against the same fallen tree that Luke and Clem were also sitting against. Bonnie took a seat next to Jacob, crossing her legs like a child during an assembly.

It was silent for a few moments. The six of them were exhausted. Night time was also approaching fast…

"I shouldn't of left Erica…" Jacob finally speaks, looking down at the ground, voice glum and regretful.

Imogen, Bonnie and Seth also looked down, expressions sad, in which Clem and Luke sat, sorrowful for the others lost.

"It's not your fault…" Clem says reassuringly, in which Jacob looks up and gently smiles.

"I know, it's just… she's really nice when you get to know her." He explained, expression changing again to sadness.

"I'm sure she is." Clem added, sympathetically.

"I'm sorry she gave you guys a tough time." Jacob replies, looking up at both Clem and Luke.

"She is kinda like that with everyone…" Bonnie adds, a small smile on her face to try and cheer up the mood slightly.

"Don't be sorry… Erica was never the first to treat me like that anyway." Clem explains with a small smile.

Luke nods in agreement.

Jacob smiles towards the two before taking off his beanie and running a hand through his straight, long hair.

Bonnie giggles watching him do so.

"You're like a girl when you do that!" the red haired woman chuckles.

"What? I do it all the time!" Jacob says while turning his head to shoot a glare at Bonnie, in whom she just giggles even more, making the others chuckle along.

"Oh shoot!" Imogen says, popping out of nowhere.

"What, what is it?" the others ask, almost in unison.

"I left my guitar…" the blonde haired girl says sadly.

"Oh, Imogen… we couldn't of bought it along anyway…" Bonnie explains sadly, but try's to bring out a reassuring smile.

"I know… it's just, it made me feel happy." Imogen continues.

"I know the feeling…" Luke says, looking over to Imogen in which she looks up confused.

"My guitar was my life… I still miss it to this day." Luke explains.

"Oh… I'm sorry Luke. That must've been worse as it was _yours… _That guitar wasn't even mine, Jacob found it in the cabin." Imogen explains, looking over to Jacob with a small smile on her face.

"Yeah, my friend and his uncle bought me the guitar when I turned fifteen…" Luke continues to explain, a small smile on his face. He remembered. He remembered everything at the time when Nick and Pete surprised him with a flashy brand new guitar. It was one of the best gifts he ever received.

Clem also smiled, leaning her head on Luke's shoulder. She knew Luke was talking about Nick and Pete.

"Maybe… maybe we could sing a song?" Bonnie mentions, a shy grin forming on her face.

Imogen's face perks up like a dog's ears when they hear the sound of their food being dished out.

"Not really a fan of singing." Jacob mentions.

"Oh come on! I don't really like singing but I will do it if I had to!" Bonnie explains, nudging Jacob's arm.

"Who said we had too?" Jacob adds making Bonnie roll her eyes.

"We've lost the cabin… and Erica… can't we just be happy for one night?" Imogen pleads.

"I think it's a great idea!" Luke adds, making Clem nervous.

"Clem you can sing can't you?" Imogen perks up making Clem want to hide away in embarrassment.

Imogen now stood up, walking over to the center of the ground so that she was in view of everyone clearly.

"Come on guys! It will be fun!" she says happily, almost child like, while sitting down on the floor crossing her legs like Bonnie had done.

"I… I don't think I can…" Seth stammers from beside Clem and Luke.

"Fine… Me, Luke and Bonnie will sing and you join in when you want to!" Imogen finally negotiates.

"Which will never happen!" Jacob sarcastically says leaning back on the tree trunk, almost lying down, with a smug smirk on his face.

"No, that's not fair! You'll know this song! Everyone knows this song, so you sing!" Imogen pleads.

Imogen's stubbornness makes the others chuckle in which the blonde girl just giggles not exactly knowing what's going on.

Instead of listening to the others bicker about singing amongst each other, Imogen decides to start singing, using her soft voice to mesmerise the others.

"**The tops of crags and cliffs the air is thin…"**

"**So we'll find a mountain path on down the hill…"**

Bonnie immediately picks up on the song and continues after Imogen. Her voice wasn't as soft and melodic as either Imogen's or Luke's, but it was still pleasing to hear.

"**Meet me where the snow mount flows…"**

"**It is there, my dear, where we'll begin again."**

Both Imogen and Bonnie were now combining their voices together, making the group forget about the events that just occurred. Luke, now wanting to join in, pulled himself up so that he was sitting straight and continued a few lines of the familiar song, mixing his gentle voice with Imogen's and Bonnie's.

"**Skipping stones, braiding hair."**

"**Last year's antlers, mark the trail…"**

Luke's voice startled Clem slightly. She leaned away from Luke and watched as he happily sung along with a cheerful Bonnie and Imogen.

Clem couldn't help to find the three's voices together quite tempting to sing along with… She felt too embarrassed to join in, so she just decided to sit and listen like Jacob and Seth seemed to be doing. Jacob was happily listening, tapping his hand on his thigh, creating a quiet beat, while Seth listened intently, mesmerised by everyone's singing but mainly Luke's as he just seemed to sit there staring at the brunette man in awe.

"**Take us back, oh, take us back, oh, take us… take us back…"**

"**Take us back, oh, take us back, oh, take us… take us back…"**

Eventually, as Clem knew the song 'Take us back' she decided to suck it up and start singing the next verse. At first, it made the other three stop in surprise… however, they all smiled and now four people were now singing their lungs out…

"**I've a friend who lives out by the rivers mouth."**

"**He knows the fiddles cry is an old sound…"**

Now feeling slightly left out and guilty, Jacob also sucked it up, sitting up and now singing along with the other four, singing louder and more terribly on purpose.

"**A lonesome creeks and moans of empty houses…"**

"**Are songs like fallen rain…"**

"**Wind blown buildings, muddy ground."**

"**The strength of water, can sink, a man…"**

"C'mon Seth, sing with us!" Imogen stopped singing, to call out to the shy boy.

"I… I, fine…" Seth replied defeated, in which he opened his mouth slightly to quietly sing along to the tune. He wasn't as 'out there' as the others, but he still sang softly.

"**Take us back, oh, take us back, oh, take us… take us back…"**

"**Take us back, oh, take us back, oh, take us… take us back…"**

"Now let's sing a line solo!" Imogen called out, making Clem and Seth cringe slightly.

"**When the higher hills have turned blue." **Imogen sung the first line while the others went quiet. Luke went next…

"**And the waves are lapping where the children grew…"**Once Luke finished his line it was now Bonnie's turn…

"**All that we know will be an echo…" **Bonnie sung. Now it was Clem's turn in which she nervously tried to remember the next line.

"It's 'Of days when love was true…'" Imogen whispered over to Clem, giggling.

Clem then sang the next line, embarrassed as her voice went slightly shaky due to the weird nervousness she was feeling.

"**Of days when love was, true…"**

Next was Seth in which he embarrassingly looked away. Luke offered and sang his next line for him…

"**Muted voices, just beyond…"**

And finally, Jacob…

"**The silent surface of what has gone." **Jacob finished, his voice cracking slightly, making everyone chuckle.

Imogen then finished off the song with the 'Ooooo' lines, before everything ended with silence.

* * *

><p>"That…that was fun ya'll!" Bonnie mentioned, clapping her hands happily.<p>

"Yeah it was!" Imogen said, looking pleased that everyone joined in at some point.

"Clem… your voice is really good ya know!" Luke compliments, looking over to Clem who was sitting beside him.

"Ha, your funny!" Clem replies, blushing slightly.

"You're a natural!" Jacob responds.

"Oh shut up!" Clem giggles.

"You're also really good, Seth." Luke calls over to the teenaged boy who was now lifting his blue hood over his head.

"Uh… thanks Luke." Seth replies with a small smile.

Luke grins before looking back to the rest of the group.

"You think we should be getting some rest?" Luke asks looking up into the sky to see it was getting dark quickly.

"That would be smart…" Bonnie replies, uncrossing her legs and sitting so that her legs were out in front of her.

"Yeah… we should. We can look for food tomorrow." Jacob adds in which the rest of the group agree.

"Alright, pack in then…" Jacob says, now sliding away from the tree he was leaning against to lay on the solid ground. Bonnie followed, lying on the ground next to him.

"Night guys…" Jacob and Bonnie say, now facing away from the rest.

"Night." Clem and Luke say in unison, lying down on the ground in each other's arms.

Clem and Luke could also hear Imogen and Seth pack in for the night, lying on the ground in a ball, giggling quietly before going silent.

The weather was getting colder and it started to snow slightly, not as heavy as it would've been in the mountains however…

"Night Luke…" Clem whispered into the thin air.

"Night Clem…" Luke also whispers, placing a kiss on the girl's forehead.

The two then slowly drifted off to sleep, leaving all the sad thoughts behind them and the good ones ahead…

Maybe it wasn't too bad with the others…

Maybe this could all suddenly go away…

They could only wish that life as it was, were one big nightmare…

A nightmare that would eventually fade away...


	15. Seeking Refuge

**Chapter 15- Seeking Refuge**

It was the faint sound of snarling that awoke Clem…

She slowly fluttered her eyes open, letting them adjust to the daylight before she felt the cold sensation tingle her skin… It was only going to get colder.

Luke was still holding Clem tightly, doing his best to make sure she kept warm… however nothing could be done about this damn weather…

Noticing a faint figure shuffling and making slightly louder snarling and growling sounds, Clem unlatched her eyelids, opening her eyes fully to see a walker gaining on her and the group.

Before she could scream out, the walker managed to leap onto its closest victim… that being, Bonnie…

"What the fuck!? ARGHH!" Bonnie screeched the moment she felt something pounce on her.

Her sudden screaming awoke everyone, Clem now even more awake...

"Bonnie, NO!" Jacob shrieked, desperately pulling himself off the ground to tackle the walker off a certain red haired woman.

"OH MY GOD, HELP ME! HEL…" Bonnie screamed and pleaded in despair, but the walker had already lunged towards Bonnie's stomach, sinking it's teeth deep into her abdomen then starting to pull out long chains of intestines.

"FUCK!" Jacob screamed, now seeing Bonnie's insides already being pulled out. He was in so much shock he couldn't even do anything to try and help Bonnie.

The red haired woman, screamed out in terror and agony but soon after started to choke up blood, restricting her from breathing...

Bonnie then stared up into the sky... watching her life slowly being taken from her. She watched the clouds until her vision became faded and the blissful nightmare approached, now leaving her unaware of the pain... unaware of life.

"NO! Bonnie!" Imogen screeched, already up with her axe, running forwards and embedding the walker in the head before anyone else could.

Luke, Clem and Seth watched in shock also as Imogen fell onto her knees sobbing while Jacob pushed the walker away to hold Bonnie.

"B…Bonnie…" Imogen wailed, loud enough for more walkers to possibly hear.

Seth crawled over to Imogen and held her, rubbing her back and gently whispering soothing words into her ear.

Luke and Clem also held each other close, not daring to go up to see Bonnie's body. Another person was dead… How many more deaths could both of them take?

"Fu…Fuck… you can't be." Jacob whimpered beside Bonnie, lightly stroking the side of her face.

Bonnie's body was motionless, her eyes and mouth wide open and her intestines all spilled out on her clothes and onto the frosty earth.

"We have… to go Jacob…" Clem sadly called over to Jacob who just sat silently beside Bonnie's body.

"She's gonna turn…" Luke added, now standing up with Clem and grabbing the grey backpack's they were in charge of. Luke also picked up his machete and Clem picked up her axe.

Without replying, Jacob stood up slowly, pulling out his magnum .44 and briskly pulled the trigger, putting a bullet through Bonnie's skull almost immediately.

The sound of the gun going off made Imogen wail even more. Seth held Imogen tighter but she just struggled and ran over to Bonnie's body, sitting down and stroking her red locks within her shaky fingers.

"C'mon Imogen, we need to go." Jacob said simply, tapping the blonde girl on her shoulder.

"Why is this world so cruel?" Imogen muttered in which nobody replied.

"Fuck!" Luke shouted, turning around to notice two, three… four walkers approaching out of the trees. Arm's outstretched and mouths open wide.

"Shit! Imogen, let's go!" Clem shouts, running with Luke and Seth pass Jacob, Imogen and Bonnie's corpse.

"C'mon Imogen!" Jacob shouts to the blonde girl, in which she sadly turns around and obeys, standing up and running alongside Jacob.

"Is everyone here?" Luke shouts out behind him while panting as Clem and Seth continued to run faster.

"Yeah, we're here!" Jacob shouts back, catching up with the other three, leaving Imogen behind slightly.

"AHH!" a familiar voice screams out.

"Imogen!" Seth shrieks, stopping in his tracks and turning around to shoot a walker in the head with his pistol.

Imogen sadly smiles in appreciation and runs up beside Seth in a panic.

"Way to go Seth!" Luke calls out, guessing that it was him who saved Imogen.

"Uh thanks…" Seth breathlessly replies, not knowing whether Luke heard or not. Yet Seth still internally smiled.

* * *

><p>What felt like another couple hours worth of running away, the group of five finally managed to seek refuge in a already picked clean cabin, which was only one floor and had three isolated, empty rooms…<p>

"Fucking finally!" Jacob bellowed, leaning against and sliding down the front door relieved.

"They're gone! Thank the fucking lord!" Clem said, also slumping down on the dusty ground, thankful.

Luke also took a seat next to Clem, panting heavily and running his fingers through his greasy brown hair.

Seth sat next to Luke, not showing any exhaustion as he crossed his legs and pulled his blue hood up over his head.

Imogen sat next to Jacob, leaning against the front door, exhausted but also glad to have outrun the walkers.

"Bonnie's in a better place now…" Jacob finally spoke up after the rest of the group took a few moments to regain their energy.

"Yeah… she is…" Clem said, thinking about all the experiences she and Luke have had with Bonnie so far.

"Shit!" Jacob curses, startling the rest of the group suddenly.

"Wha… What is it?" Imogen asks from beside Jacob.

"We left the sleeping bags and the backpack Bonnie had…" Jacob mentions, pounding his fist against the concrete floor in anger.

"Shit, the medicine!" Luke says in realisation.

Bonnie's backpack was the only bag that had all the medical supplies.

"Look, we'll be okay… hope is all we got. It's only us now and we need to do our best to survive… for each other." Clem explains, trying to brighten up the mood slightly.

"Yeah, I'm with Clem on this one!" Luke agrees, smiling down at Clem beside him. She smiles back with gratitude.

"Me too!" Imogen says, now sounding slightly more herself.

"Count me in… I don't want to lose anymore people…" Jacob explains, adjusting his beanie hat on his head like he did regularly.

Everyone then looked at Seth who was sitting silently next to Luke, lost in his thoughts…

"Oh… yeah, I'm in…" Seth nervously says, awkwardly letting out a small reassuring smile.

"Great!" Clem says happily.

"We've lost people along the way… but we survive for them… We stick together and we can make it out together!" Clem continues. Since when did all this positivity flood her thoughts?

The other four group members agree and take the time just to sit back for a few moments, sorrowful over Bonnie's death but relieved to come upon a small building to hopefully keep them protected for the night.

"Got any food?" Jacob speaks up, eyeing the two backpacks that Clem and Luke surprisingly managed to keep hold of ever since they left their cabin.

"Yeah." Luke says, pulling his backpack into his lap and zipping it open.

He then pulled out five nutrition bars and chucked two over to Jacob and Imogen and another two for Seth and Clem and one for himself…

"Thank fuck." Jacob says, diving into his nutrition bar straight away.

"Thank you." Imogen says from across the room, still leaning against the front door with Jacob.

"Yeah thanks…" Clem and Seth repeat afterwards, also tucking into their nutrition bars almost immediately.

"Don't thank me… thank Bonnie for getting all this stuff ready." Luke chuckled.

"Thank you Bonnie!" Imogen says happily, looking up at the ceiling.

Clem smiles at Imogen's behaviour.

This girl was full of hope.

There wasn't much hope for the world …

But maybe there could be hope for themselves…


	16. Blood Red Lottie

**Chapter 16- Blood Red Lottie**

It was now midday, and the common sound of snarling and groaning was still present not too many yards away from the small and empty cabin, leaving Clem, Luke and the rest stuck in the isolated building with absolutely nothing to do but wait.

"This is getting fucking boring." Jacob exasperates, standing up and peeping out one of the dust covered windows.

Walkers were seen casually roaming outside of the cabin, doing nothing but being a problem to the group of living.

"I guess we'll have to stay here for the night…" Clem mentions disappointed, still sitting beside Luke and darting her eyes across the empty, desolated space around them…

Even the very words they spoke echoed amongst the fragile walls of what once was a cosy, small cabin.

"Clem's right…" Luke casually agrees.

Jacob turns to the couple, sadness plastered on his face.

"Yeah… the last time we camped out in the open… yeah, that happened…" Jacob explains looking down at the ground before taking a seat back next to Imogen, who was still pressed firmly against the door.

The rest of the group bowed their heads down, suddenly remembering that they've already lost two people within two short days…

How long will it be until someone else go's?

Who _will_ go next?

* * *

><p>"Will we ever go back to the cabin?" Imogen speaks up after a few moments of silence.<p>

The rest of the group turned their heads towards Imogen, faces sunken.

"No Imogen… it's not safe." Jacob says simply, not trying to sound too harsh on the young woman.

"Oh…" Imogen replies sadly, standing up slowly and shuffling away to the little room next door.

"Hey, Imo… where ya going?" Jacob calls out, noticing Imogen now walking away from them completely.

Imogen turns her head slowly, her expression miserable once again.

Sometimes she was happy, sometimes she was sad…

"I'm…I'm, I just wanna be alone for a little bit…" the short blonde girl stammers.

Clem and Luke exchange worried expressions and Jacob and Seth sit, looking confused but understanding…

"Alright… look out for supplies if you see any…" Jacob replies after second's worth of thinking.

They hadn't checked the other two rooms yet…

"Okay." Imogen almost whispers before fully exiting the secluded room to be alone… Something that Clem and Luke never imagine Imogen would want to be…

"So…any plans for tomorrow and everyday we stay alive after that?" Jacob asks around, pulling the green sleeves of his shirt down so that they cover his large fists.

"Well I was thinking… the cities?" Luke mentioned, instantly regretting saying it afterwards as Clem and Jacob gave a look of horror towards him. Seth quietly chuckled.

"Cities? Are you out of your mind?" Clem replies, playfully nudging Luke's arm after she realised she replied a little too harsh.

"Cities? Na mate… we're miles out." Jacob replies with a light chuckle.

"Cities are packed with walkers… I've seen it before." Seth finally speaks up, pulling his blue hood down for what felt like the first time in forever, revealing his short brown ponytail.

The other three nod back in response, Clem agreeing the most.

"Yeah… cities like Savannah are dangerous as fuck!" Clem mentions. Seth nods in reply.

"Savannah, you been there?" Luke asks out of the blue, slightly shocked.

Clem laughs, slapping Luke's leg gently.

"I told you that part of the story!" Clem replies smiling.

"Umm… I don't remember…" Luke chuckles back nervously.

"Gee, I thought I had bad memory…" Jacob says from the door, smirking slightly as he said so.

The rest of the group chuckle amongst themselves before the familiar sound of Imogen's voice catches them all off guard…

"Wow guys, come look at this stu…" Imogen pauses mid sentence before the sound of something like a window opens with a loud _click_!

The next thing they know, Imogen stumbles into the room where the rest of the group were present at with one hand over her mouth and a shiny, sharp blade of a dagger held firmly against her neck.

Jacob, Clem, Luke and Seth stand up immediately; fumbling around to get a good hold of the weapons they had closest to them…

"Don't even make a move!" the woman hissed, her hold on Imogen's much smaller figure firm. She pressed the dagger against Imogen's skin harder, making the blonde girl whimper underneath the palm that was placed tightly over her mouth.

The strange woman was tall, at least six foot, with blood red shoulder length hair tied into a ponytail. She had light brown eyes and scratches and bumps all over her pointy pale face. She wore a black turtleneck long sleeved shirt with a black leather vest on top… She also wore dark grey jeans and black army boots just like Imogen's. To finish the dark attire, the woman also had a black handled dagger, which was the one that was currently being held to Imogen's throat…

"Look, we don't want any trouble, just let her go…" Clem tried to reason with the tall woman who just stared at each group member with menacing eyes, must more fierce than Erica's or anyone else Clem had known…

"Please, don't hurt her… we've lost two in like two days already… please." Jacob almost begs, trying hard not to grab hold of his gun that was seating neatly within his belt.

The woman considered what Jacob had just said for a moments but still glared at the group, not taking a hand off of the blonde girl who stood shivering within the taller woman's grasp.

"Why are you in my place? Tryna steal from me?" the woman asks, almost in a mocking tone but not as bad as Erica's. Her voice was harsh and had a little accent as if she was half European, or something along the lines…

"Look, we didn't know this was your place… we didn't check the other rooms for… anything really…" Jacob continued.

"Well that was kinda stupid." The woman retorted, her light brown eyes glaring straight into Jacobs, then Clem's, then Luke's and lastly Seth's.

"We were exhausted okay? You not see those walkers out there?!" Luke spoke up, stepping forward but stopping suddenly after the woman tightened her grip on Imogen's petite and fragile body as a warning for him…

"Yeah I saw them… I see them everyday…" the woman spoke, darting her eyes towards the small window Jacob looked out of not too long ago.

"We'll leave okay? Just let her go and we'll be on our way…" Jacob explains, slightly saddened.

The red haired woman thought for a moment or two before grinning slightly.

"Tell a lie, I don't live here…" she spoke with a small chuckle, loosening her grasp on Imogen only slightly.

"Wha… what do you mean?" Clem asked, almost in a demanding manner.

"It was a temporary stop… I don't know who lived here but who do I care where they are now…" the woman explained casually, no longer sounding intimidating, just confusing.

"So… you don't plan on staying here?" Clem asked, perplexed just as much as the others.

"I'm leaving soon… I just needed to escape those damn things for like, a few days…" the woman spoke back, a little harshness lingering in her voice.

"Well… we weren't tryna steal anything from you, we didn't know this place was occupied as we've only been in this room." Jacob explained calmly.

"Explain _this_ then!" the woman hissed once again, indicating with her dagger to Imogen who was still shivering in fright within the woman's arms.

"hmm mm umm mmm" Imogen mumbled into the woman's palm. Not a word of what she just tried to say reached anybody's ears…

"Hey! Shut up you!" the woman snapped towards the blonde haired girl.

"Don't tell her to shut up!" Seth now spoke, surprising the others suddenly.

"Hey, watch it ponytail!" the woman retorted back to Seth, in which he became stunned silent.

"Hey, hey! Shut up okay! Just tell us who you are, because there's five of us and one of you!" Jacob says raising his voice in irritation.

"And there's a dagger pressed against your precious girls throat so don't get me started!" the woman replies sharply.

"Please just stop! Tell us your name and we will tell you ours… please for god's sake!" Clem also spoke up, irritated.

The woman stayed silent, considering it for a while until she finally obliged.

"The names Lottie…" she spoke, now a lot calmer.

"Great, nice to meet you… Lottie, now I'm Clem…" Clem replied, keeping peace by speaking in a friendly tone of voice.

"Luke." Luke spoke afterwards in which Lottie just nodded.

"I'm Jacob and that's Seth." Jacob said afterwards, pointing towards himself then to Seth who just nodded in return.

"He can speak for himself…" Lottie spoke before Jacob could introduce Imogen.

"I'm Seth…" Seth spoke quietly before anyone could argue back to the red haired woman.

Lottie nodded then slowly pulled her hand away from Imogen's mouth before shoving her towards Jacob with a light push.

"And who are you?" Lottie asked Imogen as the blonde girl took a moment to regain her balance before edging closer to Jacob.

"Im…Imogen…" she stuttered nervously.

Lottie nodded once again before taking a look at the five strangers.

"Well, as you said… there is one of me and five of you… I guess I cannot escape now…" Lottie muttered realising she's lost pretty much all power now…

The group exchanged matching glances towards each other...

What were they going to do now?


	17. Live Or Die?

**I made a poll, nobody voted, however I did get 'votes' in the reviews on whether Lottie should live or die...**

**Thank you all and enjoy!**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter 17- Live Or Die?<strong>

"So, what are we going to do with her, guys?" Luke looked around at his other group members, his tone of voice serious.

"You talk of me as if I'm an 'it'…" Lottie spoke up, eyeing Luke with a dark glare.

Luke sighed before turning to Clem.

"I don't know… it's pretty risky guys…" Clem added, not too sure herself on what to do. If Lottie was going to die, she didn't want to be the one to do it.

"Whoa, wait a minute… we're just going to kill her!?" Jacob stepped in. He sounded pretty guilty of even considering killing the red haired woman…

"ha, you seemed like the one who wanted to kill me two seconds ago…" Lottie chuckled, one eyebrow raised and her arms folded across her chest.

"What? No… I'm, I'm not like that…" Jacob continued, guilt washing over him.

"C'mon guys… Imogen, what d'you think?" Luke asked the blonde haired girl who looked as if she was backing away as every second passed.

"I…I don't want anybody to die…" Imogen shakily spoke; playing with her hair nervously as she watched the tall woman dressed in black place an arm on her hip and chuckled in surprise.

"Wait, you don't want me to die even though I tried to kill you just now?" Lottie questioned, now eyeing the small blonde girl.

"Well… I don't know…" Imogen stammered, slowly walking over to Seth, who placed a hand over her shoulder to comfort her.

"I don't think she should die… We're not murderers in that way and even though she threatened to kill us… we'll just have to watch out to see what she does…" Clem now spoke, taking a few steps forward to the woman who still held her dagger firmly.

"That'll be fine by me… you folks, well… you're too kind, really…" Lottie exclaimed, her expression turning from smug to relaxed. It made her look a lot nicer to look at. The evil glares and smug smiles left creases on Lottie's pale skin… but to see her expression neutral, it was nice…

"Yeah, I don't think she should die… take her knife maybe… but not kill her… unless we have too." Luke spoke afterwards, supporting Clem's decision 100 percent.

Lottie face frowned slightly at the mention of her _dagger_ being taken away… but what was to be expected?

"Yeah… I'm in with that, just don't you dare try to hurt Imogen or any of us… or I swear, you won't like the consequences…" Jacob explained afterwards, now walking forward to look eye to eye with the woman who was only an inch shorter than himself. Lottie was also quite tall, and slender…

"Okay." She replied, her expression unchanging. She clearly wasn't fazed by threats or muscular big guys who could crush you within one fist…

"What about Seth's vote?" Imogen spoke up, still not too sure on whether she liked a woman who threatened to kill her staying with their group.

"Yeah… ponytail, want me out?" Lottie asked before Jacob, Luke or Clem could.

"I… I don't want to kill anybody." Seth spoke, shifting uncomfortably as all eyes were on him. He'd already grimaced at Jacob's threats towards Lottie; he couldn't stand to see someone else die in front of him, no matter who they were…

"Nice child…" Lottie replied with a small smirk.

"I'm…I'm nineteen." Seth almost whispered, instantly regretting saying so afterwards.

Luckily, Lottie just smugly chuckled instead of abusing the boy with harsh words for 'talking back'.

"You do know… um, well…I've been caught by other groups before and um… they all wanted to kill me but I usually escape or fight my way out… I have to say, you're um, nice folks for letting me live… but I have to go, really… um, I'm not good with groups and I don't understand why you would trust me…" Lottie explained, tucking her dagger neatly into the back of her trouser's somewhere…

"We don't trust you… but letting you go? What if you come back and slaughter us all during the night?" Jacob questioned.

"That would be _my_ decision, wouldn't it?" Lottie answered.

"We shouldn't keep her held up with us if she doesn't want to… besides, she'll be another mouth to feed, no offence…" Clem explained, looking over to the group then to Lottie.

"None taken." Lottie replied with a small smile. Whether it was real, who knows?

"Should we take her knife?" Luke questioned warily.

The group considered it for a while.

Lottie's expression turned slightly sunken.

"No, please… by taking my only form of defence is just like leaving me to die…" Lottie was quick to explain. Her sudden change of attitudes surprised the others.

"What about we let you go, with your knife… but you give us some of your load…" Jacob reasoned with the red haired woman. She gave a look of scepticism before replying.

"What load?" Lottie asked, eyebrows furrowed and lines forming on her face once again.

"Before you got hold of Imogen, she said you had a load of supplies and shit…" Jacob continued, a small smirk on his face.

The others listened intently.

"Yeah, in the other room. Before she came in the window and scared the fudge outta me." Imogen added.

Clem and Luke chuckled quietly at the use of the word 'fudge'.

"They're my supplies, you can't take them!" Lottie raised her voice.

"And you can't kill my group…" Jacob added.

Lottie scoffed before crossing her arms once again.

"Just some medicine as we lost ours…" Jacob suggested.

"After all, we're letting you live… and letting you go." Clem also mentioned.

Lottie glared at the group of five before turning on her heel and walking to the other room she came out of. The group followed with their eyes every move that Lottie made…

Seconds later, Lottie was back with a small black backpack. It was probably a good size for a young teen…

"Pills, lot's of 'em." Lottie spoke bluntly before tossing the bag into Jacob's arms.

The rattling of the plastic containers could be heard inside.

"Thank you, Lottie… I guess you're free to leave now." Jacob answered back in a calm manner, holding the bag as if it was a sack of unlimited wishes.

"Leave? You're taking the place too?!" Lottie retorted.

The group just stood silently, occasionally casting glances towards each other.

"Fine." Lottie mumbled.

The red haired woman walked back into the other room while the group just waited.

The sound of items being packed was heard, meaning Lottie was getting all of her belongings that she has collected together…

Moments later, the sound of the window clicking shut indicated that she had gone through the window.

...

Imogen paced over to the other room to see nothing at first but soon after, spotted a small note on the ground.

"She went through the window but look, a note!" Imogen called out. She bent over to pick up the small piece of torn paper with scribbled handwriting on it.

The other four members made their way into the secluded, echoing room to see Imogen blankly staring at the strange piece of paper.

"What is it?" they all pretty much questioned in unison as they walked into the room.

"It's says…" Imogen began to say.

"_I'm sorry…_" Jacob spoke before Imogen could.

"What the fuck does that mean?" Luke asked, confused.

"I dunno…" Jacob answered.

"Wait, the bag!" Clem stated; pointing to the small black backpack that Jacob was still holding firmly onto.

"Shit." Jacob muttered before going to zip the backpack open.

He then immediately tipped the bag upside down, letting at least twenty hollow and most likely empty pill containers plummet to the solid ground.

"Fuck…" Clem whispered, feeling cheated.

"She ripped us off!" Luke said afterwards.

"Fuck man! Jesus!" Jacob cursed, watching as all the pill containers scattered across the cold ground.

"Wait, look!" Seth spoke up after seeing another white piece of paper float towards the ground, a lot more gracefully than any of the plastic containers.

Imogen quickly went to snatch the now slightly larger piece of paper up from the ground.

"It says…"

"_Never trust a stranger who has already shown what she is capable of…_" Imogen read.

Imogen shivered at the thought.

Lottie had already tried to kill her today…

"For fucks sake…" Jacob complained; feeling defeated as he threw the bag to the ground. He then kicked one of the orange pill containers so hard that it smashed heavily against the wall before rebounding back past him.

"Something tells me she'll be back… not here, but later on when we leave this place." Clem explained, adjusting her hat on her head.

"What, so you think she will follow us?" Luke questioned.

"Maybe…" Clem answered, unsure herself.

"I guess we have to keep an eye out then…" Imogen says sadly.

"Yep, but we'll be okay…" Luke replies.

"Let's hope." Jacob says slightly annoyed before walking out to go back into the secluded main room.

The others followed behind, leaving the bag, pill containers and notes in the other room. After all, they were useless…

The question now was…

Will Lottie ever come back?

If so, will she try and kill them?


	18. Share A Kiss When Nobody's Watching

**Chapter 18- Share A Kiss When Nobody's Watching**

"So… who wants to come hunting?" Jacob casually mentions, picking himself up from the cool ground.

The group had left the issue of Lottie behind, only the slight thought trailing in the back of each of their minds…

They had all sat down once again, not knowing what to do from then on… should they leave? Was it safe?

"You sure it's safe to hunt? With Lottie possibly being around?" Luke questions.

"Well, we have to trust that she is not out there to kill us…" Jacob replies.

"She gave us a pretty good damn clue that she will…" Luke retorted.

"Luke…" Clem whispered, not too impressed by her partners sudden change in behaviour.

"It's alright." Jacob quickly reassures, rubbing his head before taking a look out of one of the windows.

"Sorry man, just… feeling a bit tense ya know…" Luke quickly apologizes.

"We're gonna need food soon…" Imogen now pops up to join the debate.

"She's right, but it's soon to be dark… few hours at the least…" Clem explains, eyeing the window.

It was going to become a lot darker a lot quicker as it was the start of winter. Thin sheets of snow were already starting to appear, making conditions dangerous for what lies ahead.

"Yeah… we can use that time now… bring a squirrel back or something…" Jacob explains.

"We can't light a fire… especially when it get's dark… it's too risky." Seth states, also joining in on the conversation.

"He's right, and what about Lottie?" Luke questions once again.

Jacob sighs before kneeling down to be level with the rest of the group.

"Look guys, I'm sorry… I just feel off… I go a little crazy in situations like this, when there are too many consequences for little actions… I'm sorry…" Jacob explains guilty.

"We understand." Clem smiles understandingly.

Jacob smiles in return.

"Thanks, I uh… just need some air you know… I need to keep myself occupied, distracted…" The blonde haired man continued.

"You wanna go outside?" Luke asks.

"Yeah, I do…" Jacob replies.

"I can come with, if you like…" Luke says with a warm smile.

"Thanks, but I…um, ever since I was young, hunting always distracted me from the bad in life. Ever since the dead started walking, it was a lot harder… I couldn't do it as a hobby, only for survival…" Jacob sadly explains.

The group nod understandingly.

"Well, I would like to know the basics… as I couldn't come last time, well maybe I could learn a few techniques now?" Clem casually asks.

Jacob smiles before Luke speaks out.

"Clem, what about Lottie?" the brunette mentions; worry lingering within his soft voice.

"It should be fine… besides, there's two of us." Clem smiles gently, looking towards Luke then to Jacob.

"I want to come too!" Imogen pipes up, in her usual voice full of energy and enthusiasm.

"Man, the ladies sure do love JJ!" Jacob teases, big grin spread across his face.

"Oh ha ha…" Clem replies sarcastically. Imogen also giggles before looking away embarrassed.

"Na, I'm joking." Jacob chuckles.

Luke and Seth also chuckle quietly amongst themselves.

"Well, if you don't mind me… I will stay here." Luke remarks.

"Me too." Seth says quietly.

"Well, guess it's just you two boys!" Jacob says standing up and stretching. Clem and Imogen also stand up in unison. Luke chuckles at the comment and Seth blushes and looks away before anyone could notice.

"Yep, be careful though…" Luke warns, looking especially at his girlfriend.

"Of course!" Clem replies mockingly before bending down to place a soft kiss upon Luke's lips.

"Alright lovebirds…" Jacob teases. Imogen cannot contain her giggles but Seth looks away… sadly?

"Kay, we'll be back soon." Clem says before following Jacob and Imogen to the door.

* * *

><p>Once the trio were outdoors it was only Luke and Seth left inside. Awkward silence filled up the room before Luke got up and shuffled closer to Seth, making the younger boy flinch slightly.<p>

"You okay?" the brunette asked, the familiar worry lingering within his calm voice.

"Ye…yeah…" Seth shakily replied.

Bravely, the younger boy pulled his blue hood down so he could get a better look at his friend. He felt too nervous to, but he did so that he wouldn't feel as if he was being rude.

"You like your hair long huh?" Luke asks with a small grin, noticing how Seth's short ponytail looked as if it had been re-tied recently.

"Not too long…" Seth replies with a small nervous smile.

Noticing this, Luke questioned.

"Do I… um, scare you or something coz I feel like I do…" Luke anxiously asks.

Seth looks up in disbelief.

"No, I no… no you don't!" Seth replies almost instantly.

"Right… that's good I suppose." Luke chuckles at the young man's response.

Seth let out a nervous laugh before clearing his throat awkwardly.

"Um… Clementine said that, um… you two were together…" Seth starts to say, stammering slightly.

"We sure are!" Luke grins.

"Oh… right." Seth answers back quietly.

"You got a crush on Clem don't you?" Luke mocks, clearly not fazed by the situation.

Seth eyes widened in shock.

"No, no, no I don't… um, I'm gay!" Seth blurts out, stopping Luke from replying for a few moments.

"Sorry…" Seth says soon after, embarrassed and slightly ashamed.

"No, no, no what do you mean 'sorry'? I didn't mean to push you man, I'm sorry…" Luke quickly apologizes.

Seth smiles gratefully.

"It's okay…" the younger man replies.

For about a minute or two, Luke and Seth sit in silence, occasionally hearing laughter and chatter outside…

Finally, Luke speaks up once again to stop more awkwardness… but the reply was most unexpected…

"Hey, Seth um…" Luke was cut short by the quiet boy himself, reaching forward and smashing the two's lips together within just under a second. Luke yelped under his breath in surprise in which the younger man almost immediately threw himself off of Luke, standing up with his hands over his mouth in disbelief…

"Seth… what? What… um… I, uh…" Luke shakily spoke, not believing what just happened, happened!

"I… oh my god, Lu… Luke, I'm sorry! I shouldn't have… I shouldn't have!" Seth rambled, voice spoken in a mutter as his hand was still cupped over his mouth. And was he… he was crying?

Noticing the few tears come down the younger boy's face, Luke quickly stood up after Seth. He was confused but he didn't want Seth to feel sorry for himself. The kid didn't deserve that…

"Hey Seth… it's okay, it was a mistake, I'm not angry… I'm not angry…" Luke was quick to reply, casting a quick glance over at the window to luckily see Jacob, Clem and Imogen still outside, now playing around most likely…

"Forgive me… I did not want to do that, I just did, I'm sorry Luke… you have Clem, and now I've probably traumatized you or something." Seth sadly spoke, still keeping his distance from the brunette as he tried to make his way slowly towards him.

"I forgive you, it was a mistake… I won't tell anybody, not Clem… I promise, just don't feel sorry, please…" Luke explains.

"No, you have to tell her… she's your girlfriend, you shouldn't keep secrets…" Seth says back, a couple more tears still making their ways down his cheeks.

"Okay, I will…but not now… please Seth, I'm not angry, we've lost a lot and I know you have too, the least I can do is to forgive you…" Luke continues, trying to sympathize as much as possible. Never has another male kissed him… it felt strange… but almost the same as a woman… first time for anything he supposed…

"I'm sorry…" Seth said again, however before Luke could reply, the door swung open, revealing the exhausted Jacob, Clem and Imogen.

"That was so much fun!" Imogen cheers before slumping on the ground exhausted.

"I know right! You guys should of joined us!" Clem added, taking a seat next to Imogen.

Luke and Seth exchanged awkward glances before both taking a seat, Luke next to Clem and Seth next to Imogen. Jacob sat by the door, as it was now his 'favourite' place to sit.

"You guys alright?" Jacob asks both males, glancing between the both of them. Luke mentally cursed as he noticed that Seth's face was still red and was slightly stained with tears, he hoped his face wasn't the same or the rest would get suspicious…

"Yeah, just hungry…" Luke quickly replies. He was actually quite hungry.

"Great, then I guess we can open like two cans of beans before we settle for the night…" Jacob mentions, standing up and grabbing a bag from the corner.

"Yeah, I'm starving!" Clem says, almost whining as she slumped heavily against the wall, as she was so exhausted.

Luke and the others chuckled.

"Here, Seth can I have your knife quickly?" Jacob calls over to the younger man.

"Ye… yeah." Seth stammers, grabbing his Swiss army knife from his pocket and sliding it across the floor over to Jacob who was trying to get a bean's can open with his fingers.

"Thanks." Jacob replies with a small smile before taking the small knife as sticking it straight through the aluminium.

A few moments later, after both can's had been open; Jacob grinned wildly before holding both can's in the air.

"Dinner's up and ready!" he calls out before the other four group members got up and practically slid over to Jacob.

Today had been a long day indeed…

* * *

><p><strong>Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed this chapter; please review if you liked it!<strong>

**And in case you guys didn't understand the whole Luke and Seth thing, I have indicated throughout the last few chapters that Seth did have a crush on Luke… Just thought I'd clear that up in case there was any confusion.**

**Anyway, hope you enjoyed, bye for now!**


	19. The Curiosity Of Seth

**Chapter 19- The Curiosity Of Seth**

The cool night drew in leaving each group member shivering while attempting to fall asleep…

Luke and Clem slept together; wrapped up in each others arms while Seth and Imogen slept back to back, both curled up into tight balls, knees drawn to each of their chests. Jacob however, still sat leaning against the front door, eyes closed but not in a deep sleep. It was too late to lie on the floor, as the icy cold ground sent nothing but shivers through his veins.

Despite that, the thought of Lottie still lingered within everybody's minds…

Would she come back?

What were these 'notes' she left behind supposed to mean?

However, they couldn't think about that…

The last few days have been hectic… even more for Clem and Luke. Everything was lost, where were they group to go?

Do they just keep travelling south until it's safe to come back up north?

So many questions, yet now wasn't the time…

It was all about surviving now. Losing Erica and Bonnie easily told Jacob, Imogen, Seth, Clem and Luke the dangers that came upon them from having to leave the cabin… Who knew what was to come next?

* * *

><p>The next day, early morning, the sun did not come out, leaving a gloomy sky to be welcomed upon…<p>

Seth was the first to wake up after having several nightmares about different things… one was about Luke, and how he kissed him. He did not intend too. It just happened… Something about Luke, made Seth feel safe and happy around him, however these feelings were a little too much… Seth knew Luke loved Clem, and only Clem… how could he all of a sudden just kiss him?!

Annoyed, Seth sat up, being careful not to shake Imogen awake as they were sleeping with their backs together throughout the entire night. The young man darted his eyes across the room to notice everyone still fast asleep. Imogen still curled tightly into a ball, not making the slightest sound, Jacob sleeping with his back against the door, only making faint snoring sounds, and Luke. The brunette slept soundly, arms laced around Clem's smaller figure. They both looked warm in each others embrace…

Gently sighing, Seth stood up, pulling his blue hood down and running a hand through his brown untied hair. His cringed as he pulled a few knots out… it has been days since he properly washed it, or even brushed it!

After having a small battle with his greasy brown locks, Seth neatly tied his hair back into its signature ponytail before making his way over to one of the windows. Tiptoeing in order not to wake anybody from their slumber.

Once there, Seth leant carelessly against one of the white washed walls, staring out into the secluded silence full of trees…

It was quiet and miserable outside, easily reflecting on Seth's current mood.

As every second passed by, all Seth could think about was how foolish he was to kiss Luke. It hasn't even been long that he's known him; bearing in mind Luke knew less of himself…

Seth mentally slapped himself all while looking outside into the eerie forest. However, his thoughts were distracted by something white pinned up against a tree, flapping around in the gentle breeze.

Seth squinted as much as his eyes could let him to notice that this white thing was in fact a sheet of ripped paper with what seemed to be writing on it…

Immediately, Seth thought back to Lottie…

_It couldn't be her, could it?_

Now standing up straight, Seth made the decision to go and find out what this 'note' says. He firstly picked up his pistol before walking over to the door, to then realise that Jacob was still asleep, lying against it…

_Great… _Seth thought, now trying to figure out a way to get outside.

Ever so quietly, Seth made his way into the room where Lottie came through. The window was another way of getting out, as it was large enough to fit a person through.

As Seth entered the room, he looked around to see the empty pill containers still scattered across the floor. It made him think twice about whether going outside without anybody knowing was safe or not… however, he needed to know what this note says so that he can tell the group… who knew what Lottie could be up too…

Avoiding the plastic containers, Seth tiptoed his way to the large window before placing his pistol within his pocket gently. The young man took a quick glance outside before opening the window carefully.

Checking behind him to make sure no one was there, which luckily no one was, Seth slowly pulled himself up and out of the window, landing gracefully on wet mud, in which he cringed at the sound and feeling…

The cold air left goose bumps on Seth's uncovered skin and the faint walkers moans left an uncomfortable feeling in his gut, nevertheless, he still pulled his hood up, bought out his pistol and made his way quickly over to the tree.

Seth made a quick survey of the area before dashing over to where the piece of paper lie pinned against the tree trunk.

Without hesitation, Seth tore away the note that was held against the tree by a rusty nail and made a quick runner back for the window, not stopping once to look around him.

Fortunately, Seth made it back to the window in one piece with the note grasped firmly in his palm. He clambered back into the window before quickly shutting it behind him.

For a second the teen just stood shocked, not realising that he sneaked out without telling anybody…

_What is wrong with me? _ Seth thought to himself, before a familiar voice and person came running into the room.

"Seth! There you are! I was worried when I woke up!" Imogen came flying in, practically jumping on Seth to give him a tight hug.

Seth chuckled before releasing himself from Imogen's grip.

"Why did you go outside?" the blonde haired girl asked anxiously.

"Oh, um… I saw this…" Seth replied nervously, holding up to piece of crumpled paper and looking at it the first time for himself.

"What is it?" Imogen quickly questions.

"A note…" Seth answers, unfolding the piece of paper.

"Oh my gosh… Lottie?" Imogen asks, now taking a look at the paper.

"I don't know…" Seth replies.

The note read: _'you only tried in vain to save her…'_

Imogen placed a hand over her mouth after reading. Her face was plastered in fear and confusion…

"Wha…What does this mean?" Imogen asked shakily.

Seth sighed before reading over the note again.

"I don't know… we should tell the others." He replied before walking out and into the main room, where Clem, Luke and Jacob were only just waking up.

* * *

><p>"Guys, wake up! Seth found something!" Imogen says, running into the room and going straight to Jacob to shake him awake. Clem and Luke also get up immediately to the sound of Imogen's voice…<p>

"What is it?" Jacob questions, pulling himself back into reality and standing up to rub his eyes.

"It's uh… a note…" Seth answers, handing the piece of paper to the taller man.

"Where did you find it?" Clem asks concerned, now standing up with Luke beside her.

Jacob reads the note over and over in his head before reading it out loud to the rest of the group.

"Fuck… it can't be…" Jacob says after reading.

"You think this is Lottie?" Luke asks.

"Yeah, it's obvious… but what does she mean by this?" Jacob replies impatiently.

"She means Erica or Bonnie…"Clem says, thinking back to the last people they tried to save.

"But she didn't know them…" Imogen says, now clearly worried, in which Seth places a hand on her shoulder.

"She's been following us! I know it!" Jacob almost shouts in annoyance.

"What do we do now?" Luke asks after a few moments of silence.

"We leave… we travel somewhere else. I don't want to feel haunted by her presence…" Jacob mutters, thinking hard about the particular red-haired woman.

"Seth, where did you find this anyway?" Clem questions the younger man who looks away nervously.

"I uh… found it pinned against a tree outside…" he replied, anxious to what everyone's reaction will be.

"You went outside?" Luke asks, almost in shock.

"Well… yeah." Seth answers timidly.

"Wait… you just went outside? What if Lottie was out there?!" Jacob responds, worry in his blue eyes.

"She wasn't… and I'm fine. I didn't want to wake you up…" Seth answers honestly.

"You could've woken me. But as long as you're okay then it's fine…" Jacob replies, in which Seth smiles in appreciation.

"Okay, so are we gonna leave?" Clem asks thinking back to the plan that was made moments ago.

"Yeah… yes we are." Jacob responds, folding the paper and placing it within his trouser pocket.

* * *

><p>The thought of Lottie, was now embedded within everybody's mind…<p>

All these notes… were they just going to lead them somewhere?

Who is the real Lottie and what is she trying to do?


	20. The Laughter We Once Had

**Chapter 20- The Laughter We Once Had**

It was only in a matter of minutes that everyone was ready to leave this dreaded abandoned building. What was left of the supplies were also packed and ready to leave with the group and not be left behind like before...

"All ready?" Jacob now calls out to the other four group members, clutching his rifle and adjusting his other deadly weapons within his extremely useful belt.

_Thanks mom and dad... _Jacob thought to himself as he fumbled around with his beloved belt. It was a gift his parents gave to him a while back, and since day one, it's been nothing but effective. Especially in the apocalypse...

"Yep!" Clem, Luke, Imogen and Seth responded, all giving a quick look around the empty main room to see no more of their personal belongings besides two empty cans of beans and several nutrition bar packets.

"Great, let's go!" Jacob replies, already reaching the door handle and slowly tugging it open. He had Lottie's mysterious notes placed firmly in his trouser pocket.

Immediately, the bitter breeze stung Jacob's skin, warning him that today or however long they were going to be outside, was going to be cold and windy.

"Great..." Jacob muttered, stepping outside and quickly letting his zealous eyes get to work and looking around for any sign of walkers, bandits, or worse... Lottie. Not that she was a threat on her own, however she proved that she was one tough individual and almost ninja like... Who knew where she could be lurking...

Once the coast was clear, Jacob allowed the rest of the group to follow out the door behind him.

Seth came out first, hooded and armed with his pistol and Swiss army knife. (That was neatly tucked in his trouser pocket.) He was low on ammo, however he didn't plan to kill anytime soon, unless he had to... he had to use his last three bullets wisely.

Next was Imogen. He blonde wavy hair was neatly tied back, now in a high pony tail, making it look shorter than it actually was... The blonde had zipped up her leather jacket tightly, her plaid shirt now not to be seen as she buried herself within the black leather protection. Imogen also carried her signature axe, now positioning it over her shoulder as if to say: "Nothing can faze me!".

Lastly, Clem and Luke came walking out, giggling for what seemed like no apparent reason. They were dressed exactly the same and had made no adjustments to their look other than both swinging a backpack onto each on their backs. They couldn't grasp the fact that they had kept the two backpacks ever since fleeing the cabin... To finish off, Luke had his beloved machete in hand and Clem had her old axe. She had decided to abandon her pistol as she ran out of bullets and the damn contraption was old and the trigger kept getting stuck.

"What you two giggling about?" Imogen now smiles gently, walking up beside the slightly taller duo.

"Oh it's nothing!" Luke replies chuckling himself as Clem rolled her eyes while still in the mid of giggles.

"No, I want to know!" Imogen almost begs, giggling herself as she watched the pair happily have a 'normal' conversation between themselves.

"They're talking about all the dirty things they've been doing behind our backs!" Jacob says from the front of the group, smirking as he knew he was just fooling around himself.

Imogen gasped before bursting in to a fit of giggles like a little girl would. She skipped over to Seth who was following behind Jacob as the tall man himself started the pursuit.

"Hey! Don't say that!" Clem retorted, her face going as red as a cherry even though she knew what Jacob had said wasn't true.

"Oh, you know it's true!" Jacob answers, turning around and winking at the flustered couple.

"Ha, ha..." Luke sarcastically comments, nudging Clem's arm before she gave it away and burst out in laughter.

"No seriously, what is it with you two?" Jacob questioned, humour still lingering in his voice.

"We're just talking about... well things that happened in the past and also a stupid bet we made..." Clem explains while smiling at the brunette beside her.

"Bet? And what bet was this?" Imogen questions out of curiosity before Jacob could. She still had a warm smile planted on her face, her cheeks red and rosy.

"Well..." Luke starts, however Clem jumps in first.

"Luke laying naked in the snow! Well... that was supposed to be the 'outcome' of the bet!" Clem blurted, laughing as Luke gave her a face full of shock and embarrassment... he couldn't believe she just said that!

Jacob, Imogen and Seth all turn around in unison, watching as Luke's face burns up and Clem is nearly on the ground after laughing so much. Okay, today is officially the day that everything seemed normal to Clem... she hadn't laughed this much in, well... years!

"You two..." Jacob sighed but still chuckled as he turned back around to face the road. He kept his eyes out for any signs of danger... or Lottie.

"It's gonna be winter soon!" Imogen perks up, giggling as Luke's face continued go grow red.

Seth also blushes at the thought of Luke nak-

_No. Stop thinking about that! _Seth mentally snapped at himself. He wanted to give a quick slap round the face but he knew by doing that everyone would think he'd gone crazy... or was he? What did Luke still think of him? He hadn't mentioned anything since he had kissed Luke...

"Yo, Jacob... where exactly are we heading?" Luke asked out of the blue, temporarily stopping Clem from embarrassing him any further.

"Yo?" Clem questioned. Once again, she started laughing, in which Imogen had to come along and pat her back to calm herself down.

_What drugs am I taking?! _Clem thought to herself as she finally regained herself back to normal. Imogen had also ran back over to her good friend Seth. Luke also chuckled, happy to see Clem so alive compared to the day he had found her.

"Uh... I guess we head south... it's risky but without the cabin, freezing our asses up north is plain stupid." Jacob finally explains back to Luke.

"Yeah, makes sense." Luke agreed.

* * *

><p>The group continued to walk on, no danger to be seen just yet... however something or someones presence drifted in the cool air... Lottie?<p>

No.

Luke sensed something. Maybe he was going crazy but he knew something was odd.

He was missing someone...no, he couldn't... not now.

_What is this?_

_Wait... is that...?_


	21. Nick Back Again

**Chapter 21- Nick Back Again**

"Nick?"

"NICK!" Luke shouted, running forward and pushing pass Jacob and Seth like a mad-man.

"Luke? What the fuck?!" Clem called after him, dashing over to where her partner just stood, staring out to the pathway in front of them.

Luke said nothing.

"Dude, whats wrong with him?" Jacob asks rather casually after catching up with the couple. Seth and Imogen trailed behind, talking amongst themselves about something to do with Luke's sudden strange behaviour.

"First of all, I'm not a dude... and second, I have no bloody clue." Clem replies, tugging on Luke's arm as he still stare silently out into the open, not noticing Clem's and the other's presence fully.

Jacob shrugs, now standing beside Luke and following to where the brunettes eyes lay.

"A tree..." Jacob points out, noticing that what Luke was really looking at, was a tree.

"Luke! C'mon, what the hell is wrong with you?!" Clem whines almost impatiently, waving her hand in front of Luke's face in which he only flinches slightly.

"What's wrong with him?" Imogen now pipes up, taking small steps towards Luke, in which Jacob holds his hand out, indicating for her to stop.

"Luke, man..." Jacob says, also poking at Luke's arm. Surprisingly, the brunette turns his head towards Jacob then back to Clem. He looked as if he'd been stunned still.

"What is this about Nick?" Clem asks, not wanting to bring up her old friend, however this was important... Luke seeing things could be a problem in the future.

"I, um..." Luke started to say, however he turned his head back to the tree, or what Jacob thought was a tree he was staring at.

* * *

><p><em>"Hey man." Nick says casually, giving a little wave.<em>

_Luke didn't say anything because he knew Clem and the others could hear and think that he were insane. Which he was... Instead, he spoke with his mind. Surely Nick could still hear..._

_"Hey, you said you weren't gonna come back until I die." Luke explained, happy to see his friend, however confused._

_"I never said that." Nick replied with a small smirk. One that Luke hadn't seen in years._

_"Well... I uh..." Luke stammered, thinking hard on what to say as he knew Nick couldn't stay here forever._

_"That was heaven... you payed me a visit so now I owe you one." Nick answered for him._

_"Yeah I guess so... uh, thanks man." Luke says afterwards, smiling as the vision of Nick seemed so realistic however so different to what Luke had remembered of his best friend. All throughout the apocalypse, he wasn't the same person. But now, seeing him here... he looks better. Normal in fact._

_"Well, I guess I have to go now..." Nick mentions after a few seconds of awkward silence._

_"Wait, what? No you can't!" Luke now begs, attempting to walk forward however he feels restrain on his arm. Clem..._

_"Come on man, they're gonna think you're insane!" Nick jokes back, the colours of him fading away ever so slowly._

_"But what about Clem? Don't you want to talk to her?" Luke questions, looking beside him to see his partner, standing still and tilting her head so that she was speaking to Imogen behind her while still holding onto Luke's arm protectively._

_"I... I can't." Nick replies, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly._

_"Why, why not?" Luke asks of his best friend, now more desperately as he could feel himself being bought back into reality. The faint sounds of Clem, and the others talking amongst themselves starting becoming louder as the vision became hazier._

_"She's broken, Luke. She can't even talk about someone without feeling depressed... She's not the same from when I knew her." Nick continues, looking over to Clem who was oblivious to who Luke could see._

_"That's not true... she got over two peoples deaths in the past week." Luke quickly replies._

_"I know... but I went looking around. I found someone and I thought I'd do her a favour too." Nick explains with a small reassuring smile._

_Luke nodded, not fully understanding what Nick meant by this, however he just went along with it._

_"Well, I better get going... I'll see you soon Luke." Nick says, his voice now only a faint whisper._

_Accepting the fact that Nick couldn't stay any longer, Luke nodded in agreement once again and smiled._

_"Bye Nick..." were the last words he said, before everything went back to normal and the sounds of his friends filled his ears clearly._

* * *

><p>"Luke?" Clem asks of his name for what felt like the one-hundreth time today.<p>

"Ye- yeah?" Luke answers, still slightly perplexed but feeling better now that he was back in the real world.

"You were out of it... whats wrong?" Clem questions sternly, now letting go of Luke's arm and facing directly towards him while Jacob, Seth and Imogen listen intently.

"Nick..." Luke replies, looking back to where Nick stood before and then back to Clem sadly.

"I'm sorry..." Clem says sorrowfully, pulling Luke in for a warm embrace. She wrapped her arms around his torso, not wanting to let go and buried her head within his shoulder.

"Na, it's okay... he told me he sent someone for you. He looked everywhere." Luke explains after Clem slowly released herself away from his orange sweater.

"Sent? Looked everywhere? What?" Clem questioned, completely perplexed by what Luke had just mentioned.

"Who's Nick?" Imogen was back again, asking the questions that would take ages to answer and explain.

"Just... someone they know, Imo. Don't ask anymore..." Jacob explained, butting in before Imogen could ask anymore. He sounded like an older brother figure when he said that... It made Clem and Luke smile.

"Okay, sorry..." Imogen quickly replied before going back to talking about something with Seth who stood silently, resisting the urge to ask curious questions.

"So... what did Nick mean?" Clem asked once again to a Luke who seemed in a complete daze.

"He uh, visions. Clem, the visions... something like that." Luke shakily answered, now also trying to figure out everything his friend has just told him.

"Oh, great... I um, look forward to it." Clem replied a little uneasy, however if it were true, she was actually quite excited to meet someone she had missed.

"Yeah, it's um... great!" Luke pointlessly remarks, in which Clem and Jacob chuckle.

"Alright lovebirds, we need to keep movin!" Jacob now mentions, raising his voice slightly to get every bodies attention before taking the lead once again in walking at the front of the group, on a constant lookout for any dangers... any Lottie.

**30 minutes later**

A full half hour had passed from what Seth had calculated in his mind. It was mid morning but everybody was tired as the lack of food was only a few days from having to be rationed and shared more seriously. So far, the forest was clear, walkers were no where to be seen, weather was decent baring in mind it was the start of winter, and Lottie was absolutely no where to be seen... No notes, nothing.

"You think we'll be seeing red-head anytime soon?" Clem questions out of the blue as she stared off into the never ending forest. Tree's, tree's and more tree's, and the occasional corpse...

"No notes... she's long gone!" Jacob answers happily, however slightly miffed as he couldn't get revenge for all the bad Lottie had done that day. But Jacob knew he wasn't like that... he couldn't kill people without a proper reason that he felt devoted too. He wasn't a bad person after all...

"I guess that's the best for our sakes..." Luke adds, now playing around with his machete and attempting to wipe dry blood off of the blade with his mucky orange sweater. Clem giggled but rolled her eyes. Luke could get bored quite easily...

"I don't like sleeping outside." Imogen complains, looking around cautiously as she thought about what happened to Bonnie the last time they slept outdoors.

"Well, we have no choice Imo... Unfortunately, we keep getting driven out of our refuge." Jacob explains disappointed.

"I guess you're right." Imogen agrees sadly, in which Seth pats the blondes back gently. She smiles warmly before going silent again.

Complaining no more...


	22. Into Peril

**Chapter 22- Into Peril**

**5 Days Later**

It was early morning, cold but not freezing. Frost coated the ground and the thin branches of the tired and weak tress. The forest was starting to end, leading to a clearing which further on lead to an open, large space. Luke had guessed that they had reached the countryside and that an isolated field was upon them. They could only go and see...

So far, no major casualties had occurred or anything life threatening. Somehow, things were calm...

"Where are we going? I'm so tired!" the blonde haired girl complained, dragging her feet along the frosty path in attempt to catch up with the others. She held onto her heavy axe, keeping it up in the ready as after the Bonnie and Lottie incident, she felt as if she could not trust anything around her, but the group...

"Imo, you promised to stop complaining!" Jacob replied with humour as he looked back to the girl who was falling behind the group. He was still in the front, not stopping unless Clem or Luke forced him to. After loosing the cabin, Erica and Bonnie, he was determined to get things done... even if that meant risking himself.

"I know, I did..." Imogen answered sadly, however she tilted her head upwards and looked forwards.

_Focus, focus Imogen! _She told herself, now picking up the pace and catching up with her friends.

"Now that's the attitude!" Clem cheered as the blonde caught up beside her. She looked down towards the shorter girl, smiling to her as if she was her younger sister... Clem always wanted a younger sister, however Imogen was the same age...

* * *

><p>"Hey Seth, you okay?" Luke asked, walking beside the teenage boy. Jacob was in front, leading in silence. Clem and Imogen were now gossiping like teenagers and Seth was being awfully quiet... why not strike up a conversation?<p>

Seth quickly coughed awkwardly as he suddenly acknowledged the brunettes presence...

"Hey, uh yeah... Im fine." Seth answered shakily, mentally cursing at his dumb reply.

"You sure? You're um, awfully quiet ya know..." Luke questioned, raising a curious eyebrow before looking around to make sure no one was listening to their conversation.

"Aren't I always?" Seth replied with a slight witty humour, in which Luke smiled down at the shorter man.

"Yeah, I guess so..." Luke chuckled.

"I'm just, tired and hungry I guess..." Seth added, throwing all awkwardness in the back of his mind.

"Yeah, me too... we'll find somewhere, I promise." Luke says, looking into the distance, hopefully.

Seth looked up at the brunette before sighing from exhaustion.

"I hope." Seth almost mutters. He just wanted the cabin back, where it was safe...

Luke looked back down towards Seth. He had his blue hood pulled up over his head, his face not visible unless he looked up at Luke.

"Look, Seth... that person I saw was my friend, Nick. He was a great guy but he died just like that. I'm so glad I got to see him again..." Luke explained, looking back into the distance, towards Jacob then back to the clearing ahead.

"I didn't know you could see them again... I thought once they're dead, it's just... over." Seth replied sadly. He wasn't very good when it came to comforting. He didn't know what to say to Luke...

"It was like a hallucination I guess... or a vision really." Luke added.

"Yeah, well you're lucky cause I haven't seen my brother ever since this whole thing started..." Seth explained, his voice back to it's usual quiet state and the corners of his eyes gradually welling up with tears.

"Man, I'm sorry to hear that... I don't know how these vision things work, it just sorta happened." Luke replied, sympathy coating his warm voice.

Seth smiled gently towards Luke.

"Thanks for uh, being here..." Seth stammered on his words slightly.

Luke smirked in appreciation.

"No problem..." his softy replied.

* * *

><p>"SHIT!" a familiar voice spoke out of the blue.<p>

"Jacob? What is it?" Clem was quick to ask, stopping through mid conversation with Imogen to question.

"Jacob?" Luke also asks of his name, confused and anxious.

"Look..." Jacob said simply. His voice shook as he pointed a finger towards the sight in front of him.

The group of five were already only meters away from the clearing, a large, what once was green field in sight with yet another forest behind it. But what was worse was the walkers... lot's of them.

"Oh... Shit!" Luke cursed, covering his mouth at the most unexpected sight.

A herd.

Hundreds of flesh eating monsters swarmed what was once an isolated field of fresh green.

"Oh no! What are we going to do!?" Imogen now joins in, panicking as some stray walkers overheard the group making noise and started stumbling over to them.

"We have to go through!" Clem mentioned bravely, now walking forward with the rest of the group, especially Luke catching up beside her.

"Are you crazy?!" Jacob asks in disbelief.

"I've done it before... Twice." Clem replies almost calmly, looking over to Luke, in which he nodded, fully understanding what his partner was going on about.

A herd. Larger than the one back at Howe's, but still familiar with Luke.

"I... I don't think I can do this..." Seth now mentions with uncertainty, shaking as he stood close next to Imogen.

"It'll be fine... you have to trust us!" Luke now almost pleads as more stray walkers started edging closer to the five.

Jacob shakes his head and sighs while scratching the back of his head nervously. He was visibly shaken by the idea but he looked towards the forest on the opposite side... It was now or never.

"Fine. What do we do?" Jacob asks quickly as he also notices the oncoming walkers.

"Cover yourself with their... guts and inners." Clem answers quickly, smirking slightly as Jacob, Imogen and Seth grimace at the sound of the plan.

"Make sure you smell like one, practically look like one and _be_ one..." Luke wisely mentions, now walking forward with Clem towards a rather large walker approaching hungrily.

"For the love of God! Argh... how did it come to this!" Jacob groans, however he charges forward to a male walker, bringing it down to the ground clumsily, before pulling out his hunting knife from his belt and stabbing it through the forehead.

Meanwhile, Luke hacks the large walker down to the ground, Clem assisting, ready to cut the rotting man open.

Seth and Imogen watch, eyes wide open, dreading what the three were about to do next.

"Am I doing this right!?" Jacob calls out towards the couple. He drew a long line down the walkers stomach, revealing blood, guts and gore, causing the blonde man to feel the urge to puke because of the vile smell.

Clem looks over to the tall blonde while Luke starts slicing their walker open.

"Yeah, that's right! Now get smearing!" Clem shouts back.

"Okay! Seth, Imo, get over here!" Jacob calls towards the disgusted pair who were backing further and further away as seconds passed by.

"I... I can't." Seth mumbles, now holding onto Imogen's arm.

Imogen looks towards her brother figure, concerned. She could feel how tense Seth was through her jackets sleeve...

"C'mon Seth... we have to do this." The blonde girl says sadly.

Seth looked towards Imogen then back to Jacob, Clem and Luke. They were all smothering themselves with the slimy, revolting red walker inners. Clem and Luke didn't seem to be too fazed, but Jacob continuously complained and cursed saying things like: "Eww fucckkkk..." or "For the love of all thats holy, what is this sick shit!?"

Seth couldn't help to chuckle at Jacobs behaviour.

"Seth?" Imogen repeated, anxiously awaiting his response.

"Let's do this!" Seth replies almost confidently, trying to push back his fears and for once, not be a coward.

Imogen forced a smile before practically running forwards towards Jacob who had now finished covering himself. Seth followed reluctantly, but kept repeating inside his head: _Just grin and bare it!_

"Okay, time to get you two covered!" Jacob states the obvious before diving his hands back into the walkers belly, bringing out chains of intestines and more blood and gore.

"Gross." Imogen states while Seth creases his face up due to the sight and smell.

"I know right!" Jacob replies almost jokingly as he slathered walker guts all over Imogen's leather jacket, in which the blonde girl jumps and squeals due to the sudden contact of the guts. She nearly drops her axe at the same time!

"Eww Jacob, stop!" Imogen shrieks.

"Sorry, got to be done, Imo..." Jacob replies as he continues to coat Imogen's full attire with the sticky, slimy blood and guts.

Seth, wanting to get this over and done with, doesn't wait for Jacob to slather him, and instead, bravely dives his small hands into the belly of the rotting corpse, bringing out lot's of blood and what seemed to be some sort of organ. He almost shrieks out in fear as his hands made contact with the large clump of what could maybe be a kidney, the stomach? God knows what!

"Woah, Seth!" Luke says in surprise as he and Clem come walking over to Jacob, Seth and Imogen, covered head to toe in blood, blood and more blood!

Seth awkwardly tries to smile however he's too busy trying to ignore the fact that he's covering himself with what once were actual human guts...

"You nearly done?" Clem asks, looking around to notice the herd starting to spread out a little more, obviously detecting sounds.

"Yeah..." Jacob replies, finishing off covering Imogen and himself.

"I'm done." Seth pipes up, finishing off his bloody look by smearing blood over his face and neck just like the others had already done.

"Kay, let's go..." Clem says quickly. She dreaded herd walking, but right now she was desperate to get to the other side as quick as possible.

"Spread out, okay? It's safer... and walk slowly, make no noise, and if you have to fight your way out, don't use gun fire..." Luke explains quickly, remembering advice from a while back that a woman named 'Jane' gave.

"Luke's right. Stay calm and we'll all meet on the other side, okay?" Clem adds, now getting ready to enter the swarm of walkers.

"Gotcha!" Jacob replies, confident but still nervous as this was his first time herd walking.

"Seth, Imo, you okay?" Jacob asks the pair quickly.

"Yeah..." they both replied in unison.

"See you on the other side, Luke..." Clem whispers as she and the group approach the herd at a slow and steady pace.

"Be safe Clementine..." Luke says, eyes now full of worry as he looked towards the brave young woman, covered head to toe in guts, about the enter a herd as if it were no biggy...

"I will..." Clem whispers before she pushed herself gently through the start of the herd.

From then on, she was out of sight from Luke...


	23. Going Our Separate Ways

**Chapter 23- Going Our Separate Ways**

The sudden realisation threw Clem back into the dreaded reality. Entering the swarm of walkers, loosing the sight of Luke within seconds left a unsatisfying and frightening feeling in her heart.

Was she ever going to see Luke again?

Was this all going to be 'okay'?

Without hesitation, Clem had gone straight to smothering herself in guts, to then strolling into the herd as if it was no big deal. It was a good attitude to have in the apocalypse, a good attitude for surviving, but with no actual plan on what to do if shit goes down, that left Clem anxious. For her own and her groups safety... she just hoped that everyone will make it, for death was the last thing she wanted for her people. And more importantly, the one she loved, Luke.

The swarm of walkers suddenly engulfed Clem's smaller and more vulnerable figure. She felt as if she couldn't breath, like she had gone underwater and all that filled your ears was the strange silent sound. However, the only thing she heard was groans, nothing else... just the sound of death.

Clem cleared her throat, took a deep breath and kept her eyes focused on moving forward. She had done this before... twice to be exact, she could do it again. The thought of Luke and the others worried her, but she had to keep moving, she wanted to be out of this hellhole just as much as they wanted to be. One last shaky, deep breath Clem then kept silent, holding her axe out in front, other hand lingering over her pistol just in case this got bad, really bad that she would risk having to use gunfire.

Pushing all distracting thoughts away, Clem gently pushed herself through the herd, still finding her face scrunching up every time a walker would touch her, however not have the smart mindset to take a nice big chomp from her very much intact and fresh meat.

_You can do this Clem, you can. C'mon now! _Clem kept repeating to herself. For extra motivation she imagined Lee's or Luke's voice in the back of her head, telling her to keep going.

_It will be over soon, very soon sweet pea. _Lee's calm voice spoke to Clem.

"I know, I'm not scared." Clem reassured the invisible Lee with a quiet whisper, not to be heard amongst the loud, echoing growling going on around her.

_Good sweet pea, that's the attitude!_

* * *

><p>Luke's breath hitched as he found himself suddenly entering the herd. He was too busy watching Clem, having all faith that she will be waiting at the opposite end, covered in guts but unharmed. But Luke didn't know. It could all be a good dream in the middle of a nightmarish reality. He decided to suck it up. He'd been through a herd before, just not exactly alone... but he knew the advice given was correct, from Clem, from Jane. Being alone will only give you better chances at surviving, and that's exactly what Luke wanted to do. Survive. For Nick, for the rest of his group, for his family.<p>

Holding his machete out in the ready, Luke continued on forward. He didn't know why, but he suddenly felt dizzy. The amount of walkers caving in on him made him feel claustrophobic and somewhat frightened of the world he still lived in today. His heart was thumping as hard as a hammer on nails and as fast as the speed of light. The sudden change in surroundings made him uncomfortable and feel the urge to faint, in the middle of a damn herd!

_Breath Luke, breath... _he told himself, however it wasn't satisfying enough. He wanted to scream and make a run for it but no, he wasn't suicidal just yet. All he had to do was think about Clem...

_Luke, come on... you'll get there soon, I'll be waiting. _Clem's soothing voice echoed in Luke's head. He smiled to himself before going back to focusing on the herd and being as quiet as humanly possible.

"Just think about Clem, just think about Clem..." was all that Luke could quietly mutter to himself.

* * *

><p>The moment Jacob, Imogen and Seth went into peril, they stayed close, defying one of the most crucial pieces of advice both Clem and Luke had given before they separated. Jacob knew this was wrong but it was to late to try and explain, he will just have to do. Surely Seth and Imogen would understand, maybe they knew they had to depart their own ways, they just weren't doing it just yet...<p>

"Guys. we. need. to. spread. out." Jacob muttered slowly but quietly, already starting to create some distance between Seth and Imogen. Jacob was nervous but he knew it had to be done. Truthfully, he just hated being smothered in guts and just wanted to get out here to clean himself up.

Seth gave a slight nod. He was anxious as he only had his pistol, his swiss army knife not being the most effective as it only had short blades.

_Maybe if I can just stay as close to Imogen as possible, I'll be okay... _Seth thought to himself, eyeing Imogen's trusty large axe. Imogen's weapon would be a lot more useful in this situation, his pistol not being the most smartest of all weapons to use in a herd...

"Seth, I have to go... I'm sorry but it's safer." Imogen whispered suddenly. Seth gave a sad nod to the blonde girl who looked like a nervous wreck but was soon looking amongst a sea of the dead. Jacob and Imogen all of a sudden gone as if they were sucked into a black hole.

The teenaged boy gulped, hands shaking as he held firmly onto his pistol, hoping he wouldn't have to lift it up anytime soon.

_Just get to the end, Seth... _he thought to himself, looking over to see the tall forest trees in the distance.

To be completely honest, Seth felt that slight courage when he started spreading walker guts all over himself but now, now felt different. He felt he was being swallowed up, helpless amongst all the dead surrounding him.

Was there any hope of getting out of the herd?

Was there any hope that everybody will make it?

They had to.

It couldn't all end here. The mystery of Lottie is still out there, and everyone, especially Jacob wants answers from her.

The dead eating people was one thing, but a group of survivors trying to get around, with a stalker who know's more than they do, was another.


	24. Follow Your Mind Or Heart?

**Chapter 24- Follow Your Mind Or Heart?**

_Where is the end?! Where is the end?! _Clem wondered desperately. She didn't know how long she had been herd walking, but it had be far _too_ long. Being surrounded by the dead, moans and groans echoing constantly inside your head, was enough to make even the most stable person go insane. She couldn't take it, being covered in muck and walking around cluelessly with no clear pathway to lead you to your destination. it was daunting, all of it. She had to find Luke... in the herd or out the herd, she needed him. Now.

Keeping an eye out for what could turn and take a leap onto her small and vulnerable body, Clem sped up the pace slightly, pushing carefully through the dead in the direction she last remembered seeing Luke. She moved forward, however to the side, not following the straight line she once stuck to...

_God dammit Luke, where the hell are you?! _Clem thought all while pushing herself through the swarm. She couldn't even spot Jacob, Imogen or Seth.

It felt like another eternity before Clem came across a most unexpected site. No, it wasn't Luke nor Jacob or Imogen and Seth... it was, Lee?

"Lee?" Clem accidentally spoke out loud, eyes wide open as she gawped at the figure dressed in white, not many metres away from where she was now standing still.

"Ssh, sweet pea..." Lee whispered, however loud enough for his voice to reach Clem's ears.

"LEE!" Clem now shouted out of excitement? Relief? That didn't matter, it was loud enough for walkers to turn around...

"Clementine! No!" Lee yelled only moments after Clem shouted out to him. Lee watched as several walkers turned their heads in Clem's direction, ignoring him as they couldn't sense any part of his hazy presence.

Clem darted her head around at the approaching walkers. Axe in the ready, she cursed under her breath all while taking a swing at the closest walker, smashing through its skull and sending it plummeting towards the ground within only a few frightening seconds.

"Lee?!" Clem almost screeched just like her younger self would.

Never had she felt this afraid, this foolish... Lee was a vision.

"Run, Sweet pea! Run!" Lee yelled before his hazy figure started slowly blending in with the walkers behind to then soon being utterly gone from Clem's sight.

A single tear made its way down Clem's cheek but she couldn't cry now. Now, she had to get out of the herd... even if that meant running.

_I'm okay Lee, I'm okay! _was the ongoing thought that never left Clem's mind as she practically went sprinting through the herd, dodging and ducking under potential threats.

_Stay focused, don't let any of them get a hold of you! _Lee's words of advice rung through Clem's mind.

"Okay Lee... Okay." Clem whispered into thin air, having high hopes that Lee's words of advice will comfort her until she reaches the end of peril.

From now on, she had to follow her mind.

* * *

><p>Luke could've sworn he heard a voice like his Clem's. She couldn't be in danger, could she? No matter what it was, Luke pushed himself through the herd faster, not giving two shits how each walker cluelessly looked towards him with beady white eyes... the ones that frightened Luke, the ones that reminded him that his dark future was still to come.<p>

_Clem... where is she?! _was Luke's only thought as he tried standing on his toes, to try and look over the herd of the dead, however to no avail. All he could see was moving corpses and not the moving living. Where was Jacob, Seth and Imogen? Was Luke's next thought. He expected everyone to split up, but was the herd really this huge? Or was he really this slow? Luke didn't know, and he wouldn't know until he has escaped this nightmare... not that the nightmare still continued whether he liked it or not.

Suddenly, before Luke could even make his next move, something or someone gently tapped his back twice. Almost immediately Luke swung round, his machete out in front, but luckily before he could even take a strike at whatever touched him, Luke eyes trailed upon Seth. The nineteen year old boy with the ponytail which Luke was practically overwhelmed to see.

"Jesus, Seth!" Luke was so close to yelping out in surprise, but he suddenly found himself lowering his lethal machete and instead, embracing the younger man in a quick but tight hug.

The hug took Seth by surprise. His cheeks rapidly burnt up, but luckily the walker guts should conceal the dreaded blush from showing.

"Sorry, now's not the time but you don't know how goddamn thankful I am to find someone." Luke did his best to whisper towards the slightly shorter and younger man.

"It's okay, I'm glad to find you too." Seth replied quietly, looking around at the walkers casually roaming past, occasionally turning their heads towards the sound of their voices however, luckily not taking action to try and grab hold of their next meal.

"Seth, god I'm sorry... I haven't been this scared in a long time! I thought I heard Clem, I panicked-" Luke started rambling, raising his voice slightly without noticing. Fortunately, Seth was quick to shut Luke up.

"I know, I know... we need to get outta here. I can't take it any longer!" Seth explained quickly, voice quivering as he remembered all the walkers that currently surrounded him.

"Yeah, I get you... lets go." Luke agreed, now going back to walking slowly and steadily, Seth following beside him.

"Doe's Clem have the other backpack?" Seth whispered as quietly as possible towards a concentrated Luke.

"Yeah, I think..." Luke replied after a few moments. He forgot that he still carried one of the backpacks full of food on his back, not that there was much food left in it...

"Good." Seth answers, aware that he spoke so quietly that Luke probably didn't hear a word come from his mouth.

_I'll find Clem soon... _was Luke's only thought from then on.

From now on, he had to follow his heart.


	25. Lost Of Her Possession

**Chapter 25- Lost Of Her ****Possession **

Jacob continued to edge further and further into the noisy herd. He truly hoped he was finding himself exiting the sea of dead, but it was likely he was still only in the middle, where clusters of walkers gathered together like a huddle of cold penguins trying to warm up.

_Well shit. _Jacob thought as he looked to see around four walkers stumbling towards him all of a sudden. They didn't sense him, they'd just happen to all be walking in the direction Jacob was trying to get too.

_Well shit. _He thought once again.

The blonde man adjusted himself slightly, crouching down for God knows what reason, and gripping his hunting knife. Sweaty palms never fazed him once. Also for backup, Jacob's other hand clutched the strap of his rifle that was still slung over his shoulder. He didn't want to result in having to use gunfire, but in order to eliminate the dead, some things had to be done...

Taking slow but steady steps, Jacob made his way forward all while avoiding the four walkers who stumbled over to him looking as if they were like one happy family that refused to be separated, no matter the circumstances.

_More like one dead family... _Jacob told himself, distracting away the thoughts of him being scared and alone. But who wasn't to feel this way? He had no clue where Seth, Imogen, Clem or Luke was. They could even be out of the herd while he was still taking his time, covered in guts and slowly learning the life of a walker. Besides devouring on fresh meat...

_I'll probably be an expert at my 'How to walk like a walker' degree by the time I get outta this... _Jacob continued to speak worthless things inside his humorous head.

Anything to pass the time he supposed...

* * *

><p>Imogen practically found herself running through the herd, swiftly and quietly as the blonde girl was rather stealthy and quick on her feet. Being alone and having more and more walkers on your tail the closer you got into the centre, it was scary... not just scary, but daunting. Her heart had beaten faster than she could've ever imagined. The sickly groans coming from each walkers rotted throats was enough to make your stomach go queazy. The stench, the blood, the guts equalled overwhelming to its max.<p>

It was all too exhilarating when Imogen could see trees. Not walkers, but trees. Green trees, tall and right in front of her very eyes. Not just the very top of the trees, but the trunks, the mixture of frost and dirt surface underneath. There was an opening, there was an end!

Imogen carefully pushed her way through clusters of walkers, slowing herself down as she found herself feeling somewhat calm knowing she was very close to reaching the end of the herd. Surely, there was to be more walkers in the continuing forests, but hopefully no more herds. She wanted to find the others and then have a wash, in a stream... anywhere! The rancid smell was now stuck to her, embedding itself within her pale skin. If only there was a nice, warm hot tub. Soapy water and sweet smells... but this was not the time to be caught up in fantasies. Now was the time to get out of the damn herd, alive.

It only took around another minute before Imogen found herself out the swarm of walkers, unharmed but defiantly alive. Stinking and looking like shit, but alive.

She breathed a sigh of relief as she made her way over to the first forest tree, slumping down hard on the frosty ground and leaning back against the rough trunk. Stray walkers still wandered around, but while she still had the guts smothered all over herself, Imogen was fine. As long as she kept quiet that is...

_Where are the others? I hope they're alright. _Imogen thought to herself. It would be wise to keep moving, but she wasn't one to ditch her group. The walkers were off putting as they continuously roamed around, but as long as Imogen kept an eye out, hopefully she could spot at least someone.

To her relief, out came a blood covered Clem. Her axe was also covered in blood, and all in all, she looked exhausted.

Imogen stood up straight away, trying not to find the urge to shout the other woman's name. Instead, she waved her arms backwards and forwards frantically until Clem cocked her head to the side to set her eyes among the blonde girl.

Clem let out a relived chuckled before swiftly running over to Imogen, collapsing into her smaller figure and giving a well needed hug to the other girl.

"Thank God Clem! I thought I was alone!" Imogen cheered, while still in the embrace.

"Ssh, ssh, walkers!" Clem whispered but at the same time giggled like a small girl would.

"Oh yeah, sorry! Wait... Clem, where's your hat?" Imogen questioned curiously once the two broke apart from each other.

Clem eyes widened almost immediately as she placed her blood covered hands over her curly brown locks.

"Oh, oh no... oh god!" Clem whisper shouted as she hopelessly looked back into the herd to see what was to be expected, just walkers...

"I..I need it." Clem said sadly, panicking as she remembered how much value that hat was to her. Her dad's hat.

"We... we could maybe try and go back." Imogen suggested. She didn't like the idea of facing the herd again, but she didn't want Clem to feel even worse at the same time.

Clem shook her head.

"We can't, not now..."

"I'll have to deal with it..." Clem says, even more sadness lingering within her voice. After all, it was just a hat. She couldn't risk her life for it. Maybe having possessions from the past was a good way of remembering the better days, but at the same time hard to let go of. Because in all truth, there will be a point when you accidentally or have to let go of what you love. Whether it was a person or a possession.

Imogen nodded sadly.

"I understand what it feels like. My guitar... well it wasn't mine, but I liked it." Imogen replies. She sighed remembering all the times she used to just sit and strum her guitar whenever she'll feel down.

Clem responded with a small smile before changing the subject slightly.

"Oh well, I'll have to find a way to live without it. Have you seen Luke? Seth? Jacob?" Clem questioned, now looking back into the herd to see nothing but the dead. She shivered, remembering what she had just managed to get through before looking down at her filthy clothes. She needed a wash.

"No, just got out myself. I was with Jacob and Seth at first, but then we split... didn't see Luke though." Imogen explains, noticing Clem's face showing clear anxiety.

"Oh god... we won't be able to stay here long, Imogen. It's not safe for us." Clem reluctantly replied. She knew if the others didn't turn up, her and Imogen would have to make a move. They couldn't sleep or wait around even disguised, it wasn't safe.

Imogen's lip quivered slightly, her voice going shaky.

"But.. but what if we don't see them again?" Imogen asked. "What about Luke? Don't you want to see him?"

Clem looked back towards the blonde girl, studying her blue eyes.

"I do Imo, I do... but the plan was to all meet up here, and if the others don't come soon, we need to go and find ourselves a safe place to rest while we wait. We _will_ see them again, I promise, but not now I don't think..." Clem explained, not liking the sound of her reply as well. She would wait as long as she could for Luke, but she knew he wouldn't want that. Risking herself around these walkers just to wait for him, Luke wouldn't want that.

Imogen thought over Clem's words. She was right, well she was right most of the time anyway. There was only one way to do this, it was the surviving way. There was still hope of finding Seth, Luke and Jacob. They were not the types to just give upon the middle of a herd...

There was a way.

"Okay Clem, I believe you." Imogen replied with a sad smile.

Clem returned the smile, placing negative thoughts in the back of her mind. Yes, she lost her hat today, but there is still hope for Luke, Seth and Jacob. She _is_ going to see them again.

"Should we go?" Imogen asked after a few moments of just watching clusters of walkers roam around.

Clem sighed.

"Afraid so..."


	26. Troubles & Burdens

**Chapter 26- Troubles & Burdens**

"I'm free... holy crap I'm _FREE_!" Jacob cheered as he realised he could stretch his arms out fully without making contact with a walker. He looked around quickly to notice individual walkers stray from the herd and stare towards him with milky white eyes, mouths open, hungry for nothing but a bite of _Jacob tasting fles_h.

"Crap." Jacob muttered to himself, realising how pathetic he had just been.

Jacob drew his hunting knife from his belt once again and plunged straight on top of a female walker, driving his bloodied blade into the hard skull, grimacing as it cracked open, squirting thick blood and yelping out twisted and high pitched gurgles and groans. Already, taking out that one walker was enough for Jacob. He stood back up, muttered another "crap." before dashing towards the forest trees, at least for some temporary cover until the rest of the group turn up. _Speaking of the rest of the group... where are they? _Jacob thought as he stood beside a large tree, looking around longingly for his friends, ignoring the occasional walkers stumbling toward him, blind eyes still surprisingly fixed on Jacob.

_Stupid fuckers, can't give me a bloody moments worth of damn peace! _Jacob thought to himself as he slowly backed away from the oncoming walkers. there was only three of them who escaped the herd to come follow him, but in no time, Jacob would be able to run again... walkers forgotten, as they sadly limp around, longing for the _Jacob tasting flesh._

Unfortunately, Jacob couldn't crack anymore witty jokes inside his head, nor look out for his friends who should be escaping the herd by now...

It was the sound of light footsteps against frost coated hardened mud that made Jacob turn around.

She had a fierce grin, eyes shining and reflecting the colour of the rough tree trunks.

It was then that Jacob's world of awareness was forcefully thrown into a blackened chasm of pure darkness...

* * *

><p>He was running out of things to think about. Good things like memories. Anything to get his mind off of the situation he was currently in.<p>

A herd... a herd of people, dead people.

Seth couldn't believe himself. A herd? He was actually doing this?!

It felt good walking slowly beside Luke. He felt safe, surrounded and guarded by one man amongst the hundreds of decaying but walking bodies.

At times, well actually _most_ of the time it went silent for Luke and him. It made sense... dying would happen quite quickly if they were to chat amongst the sea of nothing but easy death. But when it went silent, Seth felt his anxiety build up, his heart beating in his ears, his cold fingers trembling as they cry in jealously of his hands. Disadvantages of fingerless gloves, eh?

In order to wash these distractions away, Seth would have to pile on more distractions and shunt out the bad ones. He thought back to his brother but that only made him feel worse. He thought back to his parents, but that only made him feel worse...

Couldn't he just think of the people he loved without going on the painful guilt trip?! Was it that hard?!

Instead, he settled with chess club...

Yes, the good old chess club. Got teased and mocked for, yes.. but learnt practical skills in the world of chess playing, yes!

Seth felt himself becoming more of a Jacob when it came to thinking... maybe it was good to be positive, even in the worst of situations.

But like normal... as usual, _something_ bad had to happen coincidentally.

"Oh my god... shit!" Luke muttered, trying his best not to cry out as he bent down slowly while Seth watched intently, curious but dreading what was to come.

"Wha-what is it?" Seth mumbled quietly, his voice shaking as it felt like more walkers seem to close in on him when he stands still.

Luke said nothing; probably for the best, but he stood back up, slowly just as before and held something up for Seth to recognise.

"Tha-that's not..." Seth tried to say as his eyes widened in recognition but Luke cut in, telling him the hard truth.

"It is." Luke simply said. His face dropped, his eyes watered but he didn't cry. He had to get out, him and Seth had to get out and get to safety.

In a blood stained hand, Luke gripped firmly onto Clementine's hat. He didn't look at it anymore, he didn't want too... but Seth did.

_She can't be dead... _Seth thought. He knew how tough Clem was, she can't of just _died_.

"Luke, she's not dead... I promise she's not." Seth whispered, getting closer to Luke so that he could hear.

Luke bit his lip. He knew Clem, he knew how strong she was... he knew she wasn't dead, but right now all he could think about was getting out.

"C'mon, lets go..." Luke replied quietly, looking ahead as he slowly started moving on forwards, Seth trailing behind.

Seth obliged. But in his heart he knew that Luke hadn't lost faith, he wasn't that kind of man...

With a nod of the head, Seth was back to walking. He was worried about Clem, Imogen and Jacob but no wasn't the time to fret. He had to breath in and breath out, thinking about nothing but a good game of chess. (If he remembered how to play that is...)

* * *

><p>"I can't believe we're leaving them..." Clem continuously muttered to herself as she practically jogged deeper and deeper into the maze-like forest. Imogen was by her side, most probably silently thinking the same thoughts as Clem. They had left Luke, Seth and Jacob. It was the right and wrong thing to do, but what was to be expected? They planned on meeting at the end of the herd but was it safe to stay any longer? Would the two just be waiting for three guys who could've already been eaten in the herd? No. Clem couldn't think like that, especially when she has Luke, or should she say, <em>had<em> Luke. Eventually they would all meet again, but was venturing further away going to help anything? So many questions but none could be answered accurately...

Clem had forgotten her hat. Leaving behind what was left of her parents, what was left of Lee and her entire childhood was painful. And yes, that hat wasn't _her's_ exactly but she liked it, favoured it over most items and possessions in her parents household. But what was Clem loosing? Her parents, Lee and her childhood died long ago, that hat was just a distant memory. She was so close to it but yet so far. It was on her head minutes ago, it is lost minutes away but it felt like miles and it felt like years since she had worn the damn thing. All this time, Clem never knew how attached she could be to a belonging, a hat.

But troubles were troubles and troubles were burdens...

Clem had to move on, mentally and physically.

She couldn't forgive herself for leaving Luke and the others, but she had Imogen. Together they will survive, and together they will find their way back to the others. Even if that didn't mean now...


	27. Getting Answers

**Chapter 27- Getting Answers**

"Luke, look! An opening!" Seth almost cheered out loud as he caught sight of the forest, trees and beyond.

Luke pivoted around quickly, Clem's hat still gripped firmly within his bloodied hands.

"Wha-where?" Luke questioned. He was clearly pulled out of his thoughts because Seth's voice startled him greatly.

"There..." Seth spoke quietly as some curious walkers turned their heads. He pointed over to where the opening formed and noticed a small smile spread across Luke's dark, blood coated face.

"Great, let's go. Quick and quiet remember." Luke whispered as he impatiently made his way to the open gap. They were so close now, hopefully nothing else bad will happen...too much has been seen already.

Seth nodded and quietly trailed behind Luke, his steps swift as he tried his best not to step in mud that made loud squelching sounds. Luckily, the distracting sounds of the wet mud was barely audible to the walkers who roamed around, deaf to the littlest of things.

It didn't take long for Luke and Seth to reach the end of the herd, intact and most defiantly alive. They both looked around desperately for signs of either Jacob, Clem or Imogen but none were to be seen. This only left a anxious feeling in both Seth and Luke's stomachs. Where were the others?

"Uh, Luke... shouldn't they be out by now?" Seth asked nervously as he jogged over to the entrance of the forest so they were out of the way from walkers.

Luke looked around frantically with his brown eyes, not stopping until he was defiantly sure he could only see walkers.

"Ye-yeah... but where are they?" Luke questioned. He knew that Seth didn't know any more information than he did, but he still questioned. He was worried about the others, especially Clem. He couldn't lose her, not again.

Seth watched a worried Luke closely. He couldn't help but to feel sympathy. He was most certainly worried about Clem and Seth felt the same for Imogen and Jacob. But the strangest of feelings left Seth feeling slight jealously over how much Luke constantly thought of Clem.

_Stop it Seth, that's stupid! _Seth cursed to himself, yet the dark feeling wouldn't seem to leave the back of his mind.

"Maybe they left, it was risky to wait..." Seth suggested. He didn't want to worry the brunette man any further by openly saying that the others were _dead_, because even Seth knew that couldn't be true.

Luke thought over what Seth had just said.

_Maybe they did leave... _Luke thought. Still, he couldn't help but to feel that slight twitch of sadness on whether Clem insisted on waiting or agreeing to run away. But after all, it was surviving and Luke knew they were all going to meet up at some point. He hoped.

"You say we should go?" Luke turned around to ask Seth who was re-tying his growing ponytail with sticky red fingers.

"Yeah." Seth simply replied. And with that, the pair ventured further into the never ending forest.

* * *

><p>"ernnehh mrrph" Jacob groaned a mixture of random words together, earning a sharp but playful laugh from above him.<p>

The sound of the sudden company awoke Jacob immediately. He had been knocked out, of course! But who was the person?

"Up you get sleepy head!" a female voice cooed, in a way you would speak to an infant.

"Imo-Imogen?" Jacob croaked as he pulled himself up slowly, however his eyes took forever to adjust to what surrounded him. A thumping pulse in the side of his head was enough to send Jacob into what felt like an illusion, but he soon recovered and pulled himself together.

"Oh boy, you're mistaken." the mysterious female giggled in a creepy but seductive way. Jacob couldn't exactly describe it, but luckily his eyes adjusted, and immediately took a good look at the sight that had been haunting him for far too long.

"Lo-Lottie?!" Jacob tried to shout but his voice was too dry to even attempt. The red haired woman only chuckled more.

"Yes it's me, don't kill me I'm here to help!" Lottie spoke rather happily.

Out of natural instincts, Jacob went to grab at his hunting knife only to realise he actually _had_ it in his belt. Why wouldn't she take it away from him? His rifle was missing, presumably lost just before he got knocked out, but he had his weapons, his clothes... everything. (besides supplies because Luke and Clem still had the backpacks)

"Whoa, slow down mister! I aint gonna hurt you!" Lottie chuckled as she gently placed a cool pale hand over Jacob's. Surprisingly, Jacob found himself relaxing under the touch instead of feeling the urge to grab at his knife again. He didn't like Lottie touching him in the slightest, he just didn't have the energy to pick up a fight...

"Don't act like you don't know me! You threatened to kill my friend, you lied to us... and shit! I aint gonna be your friend!" Jacob snapped, however he still sat up still, not making any attempt to attack Lottie who kneeled beside him, smile wide. Jacob also only just realised that he was in some sort of small cave. A good hiding place, dark but still safe (from what Jacob could tell.)

"I'm not asking to be your friend. I did shitty things, I know..." Lottie explained, removing away her hand from Jacob's. She seemed to have lot's of thoughts on her mind, yet only spoke few at a time.

"Well it sure looks like you're asking to be friends if you didn't go and mutilate me already!" Jacob retorted, looking down at himself to notice he was indeed, still intact.

"You calling me a cannibal?" Lottie questioned, slightly offended.

"No, but mutilating me would seem like something you would wanna do!" Jacob shot back.

"Oh honey, I'm not like that!" Lottie chuckled, tucking stray bits of blood red hair behind her ears.

"First of all, I aint your honey. Second, you have some explaining to do!" Jacob says harshly, however the words were all humorous to Lottie's ears.

"Fine big guy, what do ya want me to explain?" Lottie questions, grin still etched onto her pale face.

"Well first, you're acting strange... well, you're not as loud and rude as last time. Now you're more creepy, mysterious and happy." Jacob explains, mentally slapping himself for going off topic.

"That's because we are _alone_." Lottie almost purrs, causing Jacob to gulp anxiously.

"Anyway..." Jacob says awkwardly while Lottie returns to her usual state of intense glaring and most defiantly all ears as Jacob went back to explaining once again.

"The pills." Jacob says simply in which Lottie sighs, unwilling to explain but she does nevertheless.

"Look, I'm sorry. I was actually gonna spare you some as I felt kinda bad for tryna kill that girl... but I couldn't. I don't want to look weak as in giving away my possessions just because I feel threatened." Lottie explained, mumbling as she mentioned feeling threatened.

"You felt threatened by us?" Jacob questioned, surprised to hear this out of such an intimidating strong woman.

"Well like you said, it was four against one." Lottie mentioned.

"Five." Jacob corrected.

"Whatever."

"What about the notes? What about the one to do with us trying in vain to save someone?" Jacob questioned in a demanding manner.

"Oh yeah, about those... yeah, you only tried in vain to save her." Lottie says casually, not feeling the slightest bit intimidated by Jacob's death glare.

"Save who?!" Jacob snapped, his eyebrows furrowing as he stared directly at Lottie's light brown eyes. It was only then that he noticed that one was slightly lighter than the other.

"That ginger woman. Bonnie was her name?" Lottie replies, again oh so casually.

The mentioning of Bonnie's name struck something inside of Jacob causing him to feel a burning anger seep through his hot veins.

"Ho-how the fuck do you know her?!" Jacob snapped once again, trying his best to keep his cool.

"I've been following you for a while, before I started leaving notes. You struct me as quite handsome and I was sure... I would like a little taste of that." Lottie spoke seductively, tracing her long fingers down Jacob's clothed chest and stopping at the hem of his denim jeans.

Jacob immediately swatted away the woman's hand, his face scrunching up in disgust.

"Don't be fucking stupid! How the fuck do you know us?!" Jacob nearly shouts.

"I don't okay! I saw you running with a woman in your arms and I followed you from there!" Lottie shot back, however the small curve of her lips remained.

"Wait, if you were there since Erica... then you must've known about Bonnie dying!" Jacob says, however he was more speaking to himself.

"Well yeah, I did say that your attempts at saving her were fruitless." Lottie says in an obvious manner.

"Why didn't you help us? Warn us even?! Why did we not do well? We did everything to try and save her but there was no going back!" Jacob's voice rose as he questioned more.

"Whoa, slow down! I didn't bring the walkers to you! I wasn't there until I heard screaming and I came back and saw you looking like idiots tryna save whats-her-name! Again, only in vain did you try to save her!" Lottie snapped back, her face also scrunching up in anger.

"Idiots?! How else could we try and save her? If it was no good, why didn't you just show up then, maybe give us a fucking helping hand! An eye for an eye Lottie, you heard of that!?" Jacob sarcastically remarked.

"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. Heard of that, Jacob?" Lottie muttered.

"Yeah whatever." Jacob simply said, putting the subject of Bonnie's death behind him.

"So, you gonna ask why you're here anyway?" Lottie questioned after a few moments of intense silence.

"What? So you can rape me?" Jacob sarcastically says, folding his arms over his chest.

"I said you were handsome but not to the point where I feel the need to _rape_ you." Lottie chuckled.

"Raping is not necessarily about the looks, it's about what's _down there_." Jacob corrected.

"You saying I want what is _down there_?" Lottie questioned, shocked but clearly over exaggerating the reaction.

"Well you clearly did seconds ago by touching me the way you feel around on a wall in a dark room to find the light switch." Jacob joked, but his reaction to his witty comments were dry.

Lottie chuckled again.

"Anyway..." she said.

"Yeah, anyway..." Jacob repeated, also damn curious to why he was down in a small, wet cave.

"I want to make a deal with you, nothing much... just a helping hand." Lottie explained calmly.

"Will that hand be touching me?" Jacob asked, not bothered to really know what Lottie had in mind.

"Hmm, we'll see."


	28. Wandering Through Trees

**Chapter 28- Wandering Through Trees**

"Clem, it's gonna get dark soon... where are we going to camp out?" Imogen questioned anxiously as she dragged her feet behind Clem.

The pair had been walking hours through the never-ending forest. The entire time they had not stopped to eat or even drink. Clem was too focused on finding refuge where they could both hopefully stay and wait to see if Jacob, Luke and Seth arrive. Imogen spent most of the time complaining, however she kept her mouth shut as she knew Clem had lots on her mind. Luke really did mean _a lot_ to her...

"I-I dunno...but we have to find somewhere, we _have_ too." Clem replied, panting as she took larger strides across the now frost coated earth.

"Why? Why not camp out like we did last time? I know what happened to Bonnie could happen again, but this time we'll take turns on watch." Imogen suggested. She didn't fear the night like she did in the past few days.

"I know, I know but... I have a bad feeling about this." Clem says while squinting her eyes for the umpteenth time to see what could be in the distance. So far, no walkers but many trees. It also didn't help that as the weather got colder from the winter, it also got foggier.

"A bad feeling about what? I know it's not ideal weather or conditions but we have no choice... plus, we're too far away from the herd. What if they don't ever find us?" Imogen asked. She didn't like bringing up the fact that she'll never see her friends again, but what if it was true?

Clem immediately stopped in her steps and turned around to face the blonde haired girl.

"We _will_ see them again." she simply said before turning back around and going back to pacing forward, Imogen struggling to keep up behind.

Imogen watched as Clem trudged further on. She seemed so determined but wasn't it more likely the others were _behind_ them?

"Clem, I know why you want to find safety, but Luke is bound to be further behind us. We're going way too ahead!" Imogen explains in slight annoyance. She didn't want to blame Clem and say she was wrong, but it felt like that in her heart. Going further forward was not helping anything...

Clem sighed and wiped a bead of sweat away from her forehead. Maybe Imogen was right...

Stubbornly, Clem continued walking.

"Look, I'm sorry okay... but now that we've got here, we need to at least see if there's any buildings, anything before turning back!" Clem replies as politely as possible, however the anxiety was building up in her. She felt lost even with Imogen, she wanted _Luke_...

Imogen remains silent. She felt oddly annoyed, but decided it was best to keep her mouth shut. She knew Clem was worried, overly worried. Imogen didn't want to make Clem feel worse than she already is so she just sucked it up and went along with Clem's confusing plan.

* * *

><p>"We're fucked." Luke groans in annoyance as he and Seth slowly ventured further into the forest. By now, the fog was picking up and the temperature had dropped. It was truly the start of a painful winter.<p>

"We're not fucked. C'mon, the others shouldn't be far..." Seth reassured as he picked up the pace slightly.

"Seth, we could be miles away from the next abandoned shed or cabin." Luke adds, stepping out of the way of a walker corpse on the ground. Its insides were scattered everywhere like it had been once mutilated from the stomach area.

_Poor guy._ Luke thought.

"Imogen and the others are still out there." Seth replies as Luke catches up with him so that they were now walking side by side once again.

"I know man, I do... but where do we go now? This plan was stupid, they could be anywhere now! They could still be in that goddamn herd!" Luke says, agitated from the whole event that has occurred so far.

"They can't be in the herd Luke. Clem wouldn't give up on you, she has to be out there! With Imogen and Jacob." Seth reassures, looking towards Luke who fiddled around with Clem's hat in his bloody hands.

"Okay, okay I believe ya, but where do you think they went?" Luke questions the teenage boy while tracing his finger over the letter 'D' on Clem's hat.

"I think they would be going further away from the herd like we are, it wasn't safe staying around. They're probably looking for a refuge where they can stay and use as our next meeting point..." Seth explains, thinking logically as he himself was also desperate to get back to his friends. (Not that Luke was bad company...)

"Ye-Yeah, that sounds about right. So we head forward, look out for any buildings then?" Luke asks he picks up his own pace, determined to at least find something before the night draws in.

"Yep." Seth replies with a small smile, satisfied that Luke was no longer fretting like he did earlier on.

"Great, then lets go!" Luke says enthusiastically with a grin on his face.

"We're already going!" Seth replies with a small chuckle.

"You know what I mean..." Luke laughs in which looks away with a smile. Every time Luke smiles, Seth feels his face flush. He didn't want to imagine how red it got...

* * *

><p>"Hey Clem, you see that?" Imogen asks as the pair took a short rest break. The blonde was pointing to something not too far from where they were standing.<p>

Clem looks towards where Imogen was excitedly pointing.

"Wha-what is it?! A person?" Clem questions quickly.

"No, no like a river! Those ones that go through the forests and has a bridge!" Imogen explains, her face lighting up with an excitement that reminded Clem too much of Sarah. She missed her innocent friend dearly...

"A river? We could clean up and get some more water!" Clem suggested, satisfied with what was in the distance, not far from where they were both standing.

"Yeah, that sounds like a great idea!" Imogen replies already walking ahead of Clem.

"Whoa, we don't know what else is there... we go slowly, hide behind those bushes and then scout the place out, okay?" Clem says, placing a firm hand on Imogen's shoulder and stopping the girl from getting too jovial about the situation.

"Yeah, sorry bout that." Imogen apologises quickly, calming herself down before holding out her axe for precautions.

"No need to be sorry, lets be quick!" Clem says with a smile as she pulled out her pistol from behind her and held it close to her face as the two inched closer to what seemed to be an abandoned sight.

* * *

><p>"Okay, you're are fucking weird!" Jacob puts simply as his face twisted up with several different emotions.<p>

"What, you've never seen a woman get undressed?" Lottie questions, her face amused as she pulled off her jet black vest jacket slowly and in a very suggestive manner.

"No, I mean... why like this? Can't you just explain this 'deal' thing and let me go on my merry way?" Jacob asks, his tone of voice sarcastic. However, deep inside, no matter what Lottie had done, she was quite an eye-catcher with the flaming red hair, tall slender body and pale skin. Jacob... liked it?

"It's not much of a deal, just... I will help you look for your friends. Trust me, I have plenty of supplies as well." Lottie explains, looking over to her large black backpack that was leaning up against one of the caves walls.

"Wha-what? That makes no fucking sense! You hated everything about me and my friends and now you want to help me and not take anything of mine?!" Jacob questions, clearly confused by this woman. Was she even the same Lottie who showed up?!

"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind, remember?" Lottie replies calmly as she throws to the side her jacket and goes to pull off her turtle neck, long sleeved black top.

"No, stop." Jacob says as he sat up and placed a hand over Lottie's, preventing her from taking off her top.

"I don't get it. Are you good or bad? I mean, if you want to help me and not try and get anything _from_ me, how are you making a deal?" Jacob questions, the possible answers all jumbling up in his mind as he tries to think straight and at the same time get Lottie to stop stripping for some unknown reasons.

"That's for you to decide. Do you want to want to trust me?" Lottie questions as she probes at Jacobs hand with her own. She tickled his warm skin and he didn't seem to take notice.

"I...uh wha-what?" he replies. Suddenly everything goes blurred again...

_Who the hell is Lottie and what the hell is really going on?! _Jacob tries to think, however the sight of Lottie, the red hair and the pale skin just clouds his mind so much that he feels himself falling asleep? Going unconscious? Whatever it was, Jacob _wanted_ to rest...


	29. Altered Skinny Dipping

**Chapter 29- Altered Skinny Dipping**

"I don't trust you." Jacob put simply. His eyebrows were furrowed as he stared straight into Lottie's un-matching brown orbs.

The red-haired woman only stared back, half surprised, half expectant of Jacob's behaviour. They had been sitting in the small cave for quite a few hours now, surely Jacob would've made his decisions by now? Right?

"Look, I'm sorry but I gotta go. I have friends out there..." Jacob added as waiting for Lottie to respond was taking far too long.

Jacob then stood up, the feeling of being upright felt foreign for a few moments, but he soon regained his balance. Lottie only watched.

"You wouldn't make it one mile." she spoke from the ground.

Jacob turned and looked down at the redhead.

"Not in here I won't." he replied, adjusting his beanie. (Yes, it was probably the twentieth time Jacob had adjusted it in the cave...)

"I can help." Lottie said calmly, standing up but not moving any closer towards the man.

"I don't need _your_ help." Jacob spat, however the words didn't come out as harsh as he thought.

He turned and started walking forward. The cave was dark and damp and Jacob couldn't see where the opening was, but he continued to walk. Lottie's footsteps echoed behind him.

"Do you trust me?" Lottie had asked again, now walking beside Jacob.

Jacob breathed in before replying.

"No."

Lottie's eyebrows knitted together in a way to show that she thought hard on what to say next.

"It's probably dark now, last I checked walkers were roaming around as well..." Lottie explained, her voice still calm as Jacob's footsteps came to a halt.

"What?" he questioned. Jacob fully understood what Lottie had said, he just wanted to know what she meant by it...

"Look, I'll let you go. But honestly, you won't make it one mile leaving now..." Lottie explains truthfully, watching as Jacob turns back to face her once again.

"You know how to mess with me now, don't ya?" Jacob said. He couldn't help but to not feel _too_ angry...

"Now, now don't get your knickers in a twist!" Lottie teased as her expression went from neutral to grinning again.

"I don't wear knickers, thank you very much!" Jacob replies, his 'thank you' overly sarcastic.

"We'll see about that." Lottie says suggestively as she starts walking back to their spot, Jacob trailing behind slightly reluctantly.

"Stop with the creepiness, if I were a girl and you were a man, everybody would be freaking out! I'm a guy but I feel a little uncomfortable too, ya know!" Jacob complains all while Lottie just smirks.

"Everybody can't freak out because it's only you and I..." Lottie responded, turning around and walking up close to Jacob. She then proceeded to use her pale finger and draw an invisible line down Jacob's plaid shirt.

Jacob drew back, the same _'I'm giving you a chance, don't screw it up'_ expression on his face.

"Look, I hate you but at the same time I don't _hate_ you as much as some others, but I _will_ leave. I want to leave, but unfortunately you're right. Goddamn just let me sleep!" Jacob rants as he goes to sit down on the same spot where he had been held up for hours.

Lottie followed suit.

"You whine too much." Lottie says, not a single care in her voice for Jacob's complaints.

"Whatever." Jacob replies, folding his arms as Lottie simply smiles.

_Cheshire cat, she's a fucking Cheshire cat._

* * *

><p>"Alright, keep your head down." Clem whispered towards Imogen who nodded. Both girls were kneeling behind a large bush, listening out for any voices or walkers that could be around the area. So far the river seemed abandoned.<p>

Clem carefully stood up, she outstretched her arms, aiming at nothing in particular as she searched the area with her eyes. It was too foggy to see perfectly, but luckily all Clem could spot was the river itself, the bridge and the dozens of trees surrounding her.

"Alright Imo, you can stand." Clem said, making her voice slightly more audible but keeping her tone low for precautions. The area was quiet but no less eerie...

Imogen stood up, her axe still in the 'ready to strike' position.

"It looks okay." Imogen point out as she also scanned the area with her blue eyes.

"Yeah, it does..." Clem replied, lowering her gun before tucking it back into her jeans.

"Well, what are we waiting for?!" Imogen questioned excitedly. The blonde lowered her axe and skipped along the ground before stopping at the edge of the river.

Clem smiled and followed after, also excited to see water that she could easily clean up in.

Imogen knelt down in front of the water and placed her axe on the ground. She then cupped her hands together, gathered some fresh, cold water and splashed it all over her face. She squealed at first because of the temperature but giggled as she could feel the icky blood wash off her pale skin.

Clem chuckled at the girls behaviour, she was still young at heart despite them being the same age...

"C'mon Clem, this feels so nice!" Imogen exclaimed, splashing more water over her face and into her wavy blonde hair which she untied from its original ponytail.

"Alright..." Clem replied with a smile, kneeling down beside Imogen after taking off her backpack and placing it on the ground, along with her gun.

Imogen grinned happily before she gathered some water and proceeded to splash it over Clem's face.

Clem screeched in shock before wiping away the water from her eyes.

"You little bitch!" Clem almost shouted all while laughing as Imogen rolled over on the floor clutching her stomach.

Clem gathered some of the cool water and threw it onto Imogen's face, in which the blonde screeched at the cold contact.

"That's what you get!" Clem teased, gathering more water and splashing it over Imogen's dirty clothes.

Imogen couldn't hold her laughter any longer. She crawled to the very edge of the river, before standing up and pulling off her boots quickly.

"What are you doing?" Clem asked as she watched Imogen strip form her boots but nothing else.

"Getting cleaned up!" Imogen replied enthusiastically while Clem stood up.

"Are you sure? We have no change of clothes and we can't sleep in wet clothes!" Clem blurted out quickly as Imogen kept peaking at the water, reading to launch herself into the river.

"Don't worry Clem, we were going to have to wash our clothes anyway, they were going to get wet no matter what!" Imogen explains, with the same enthusiasm, a permanent smile etched onto her dripping wet face.

"What are you suggesting?" Clem questioned, her famous confused face most defiantly on show.

Imogen sighed before re-thinking her idea.

"What about we sleep in our bra, knickers and socks? They will stay dry and we can get cleaned up in our dirty clothes. We need to wash them, the smell is killing me!" Imogen explained almost impatiently while Clem still thought over what Imogen wanted to do.

"Imo, we'll freeze to death!" Clem said, concern in her voice. She wanted to have a little fun in the river to get her mind off Luke, but it was too risky.

"We'll make a fire!" Imogen retorted, her tone of voice sounded as if she was pleading but she still had an innocent smile on her face.

"In the dark? People will find us..." Clem replied sternly, however she couldn't help but to smile as Imogen hopped around desperately, wanting to get into the water.

"I've heard no one, it'll be fine!" Imogen argued back like a young child in which Clem stifled a giggle.

"Walkers could get us..." Clem considered.

Imogen let out an impatient moan but laughed slightly as Clem started to giggle, obviously not mad with her but considering the fun idea...

"You know what? Fine." Clem suddenly said. However, before she could continue, Imogen let out a yelp of success.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Imogen spoke breathlessly as Clem chuckled, trying to get the blonde to calm down.

"It's okay, but we still shouldn't clean up together, I'll keep watch just in case something happens, okay?" Clem explained while Imogen listened intently, nodding her head.

"Okay! I'll keep watch for you, right?" Imogen asked as she already started to pull off her leather jacket.

"Yes, exactly. I'll look away so you can take your... _undergarments_ off." Clem replied while Imogen giggled again.

Clem then turned away and went to go rooting through her backpack. She still couldn't believe she kept hold of it since leaving the cabin. It felt like years ago... However, it wasn't like there were many supplies in the first place. No medicine, one can of beans, two nutrition bars and a plastic bottle full of air.

Not too long after, Imogen was done putting back on her filthy clothes. Her lilac bra and surprisingly matching knickers were placed on the ground beside her axe. Her socks were there also. Clem turned around to see Imogen grinning excitedly.

"Well? Get in, it'll be dark soon!" Clem says, happy that Imogen looked somewhat in her zone, no worries about how fucked up everything was around them...

"Yay!" Imogen cheered, her voice high pitched as she threw herself into the water, splashing around in half excitement and half _'Oh my God, the water's so cold!'_ manner.

Clem chuckled, zipping up her backpack and watching as Imogen messed around, not any concern for anything around her.

"Keep the noise down!" Clem hissed in a tone of voice just above a whisper. Imogen stopped splashing around and gave an innocent _'Oops, I forgot'_ expression before quietly going back to rinsing away the dirt and blood from her hair, clothes and skin.

Clem smiled to herself, envious that she made herself wait her turn to get into the water. This is also meant that Imogen's clothes would have more time to dry off.

As Imogen was too busy messing around in the river, Clem decided it would be a perfect opportunity to peel out of her clothes in order to remove her undergarments. Truthfully, Clem didn't want to get back into her filthy clothes but firstly, they were going to have to get washed anyway, and secondly, she didn't want to wash herself naked. Cleaning up while covered was the best choice...

Besides, if her bra, knickers and socks got wet, she would have to stay up all night naked. She would rather be half nude rather than going all natural... especially in these weather conditions.

* * *

><p>Not too long after, Clem had managed to place her white undergarments (plus socks) besides Imogen's and was now only in her purple long-sleeved shirt and jeans. It felt awkward, not wearing a bra or knickers, especially under blood-coated clothes, but it was only temporary.<p>

...

After just under ten minutes, Imogen was finished and pulled herself away from the water with a huge smile on her face.

Her clothes looked fairly clean and a good amount of blood and mud had been washed off, which left Clem excited to getting her purple top looking _purple_ again.

"Your turn, I'll get a fire started!" Imogen explained happily as Clem nodded and made her way into the water.

The water was beyond freezing but it wasn't to a point where Clem thought she would get hypothermia, it was almost relaxing. (Like going into a sauna and not worrying about burning to death because of the heat...)

"You alright in there?" Imogen called out, noticing that Clem indeed felt the temperature of the water now that she was fully submerged from the shoulders down.

Clem turned around and nodded with a grin but quickly turned around and blushed when she saw that Imogen was standing fully naked, her lilac bra in her hands.

"Jesus Imo, could've told me you were naked!" Clem bellowed in which Imogen giggled, her sweet laughter echoing in the forest.

"Whoops, sorry!" Imogen replied, slipping on her undergarments. The fabric dampened as her skin was still dripping wet but Imogen didn't mind, she was happy to be clean.

"It's okay." Clem replied with a chuckle.

...

After a few minutes, the cold water became too much to bare...

Clem didn't understand how Imogen could last so long in the water, goosebumps coated her skin as she desperately tried to clean herself and her clothes as much as possible.

"Goddamn Imogen, how'd you last so long?! I'm freezing!" Clem explained, splashing water through her curly black hair and using her fingers to comb through the mess.

"I dunno, but I've got a fire started!" Imogen replied happily as she knelt by a small fire in her bra and knickers, holding up her ripped jeans to dry them quicker.

"Thank God!" Clem sighed. She finally gave in and pulled herself out of the biting water. Her clothes hugged her figure, in which Imogen giggled as Clem shivered, teeth chattering as she sat down by the fire.

"I won't look." Imogen says, putting down her jeans and passing over Clem's undergarments.

"Tha-thanks..." Clem replied, taking hold of her dry clothes and quickly stripping out her wet ones while Imogen politely looked away at trees behind her.

Once changed into _less_ clothes, Clem surprisingly felt warmer.

Imogen's ideas were not that bad after all...

"Look at us, two girls half naked in the middle of the forest. When did it come to this?" Clem joked as Imogen turned around and nodded her head in agreement.

"It's pretty reckless, but hey! It was fun!" Imogen added, now holding her jeans back up to dry besides the flames.

"Yeah, I'll give you that. I still hope we find the others though, god I miss them..." Clem explained while squeezing access water out of her clothing before holding it up to dry.

"Me too, I bet they would love to get cleaned up!" Imogen responded, now lifting her red plaid shirt to dry.

Clem chuckled.

"Yeah, they'll be all bloody and filthy while us ladies will be fresh as daisies!" Clem said, exaggerating her voice in a humorous way. Imogen tried her best to stifle a giggle.

"Clem, we should've skinny dipped!" Imogen says after finally stopping herself from uncontrollably giggling.

"I was cold enough _with_ clothes on, so no thanks!" Clem replied with a laugh. She shuffled closer to the fire and held out her top to dry.

"Still, it would've been fun..." Imogen remarked, imagining the scene take place inside her head.

* * *

><p>The drying process took a long time but no danger came around making Clem feel more grateful than anything...<p>

Luke was still out there, along with Seth and Jacob.

But having moments like these with Imogen were something to remember, a distraction from the unforgiving reality.

Clem looked up into the dark sky and watched the glowing moon...

Even in a dark world, beauty still existed.

Strangers who could make you smile, also existed.

And for that, Clementine was grateful.


	30. Sleeping At Last

**Chapter 30- Sleeping At Last**

"Luke, it's getting late." Seth mentions after around another hours worth of silence. The pair had been walking for god knows how long, having nothing to eat or drink. Jokes and light conversations were made a while ago, but now they both seemed too concentrated to even talk. It was almost as if talking made you tired...

"Yea, yeah I was um, gonna say the same thing..." Luke replied, stopping in his tracks to take a breather. His voice stuttered as it had been so long since he spoke a single word. Occasionally he would curse under his breath every time he recognised the similar layout of the trees. Luke and Seth had spent most of their time walking in circles after all.

"What do we do now?" Seth asked, placing his hands in his sweaters pockets. The fingerless gloves were not as effective as he wanted them to be.

"We make camp I suppose. Too late to light a fire unfortunately..." Luke replied, slightly uncertain with the plan as he scanned the area around him. Nothing but trees, but who knew what could pop up?

"Great." Seth muttered sadly as he took at seat on the cold, frosty ground.

Luke could only nod in reply. He was just as reluctant, sadder at the thought that his Clem was not with him...

Her hat, yes... but _her_, no.

Luke took a seat on the ground, not too many inches away from Seth. He noticed the boy's face look down towards the ground. He looked completely blank like nothing was on his mind...

"Hey, you hungry?" Luke asked, his voice sympathetic as he knew how worn out Seth must of been feeling at the moment.

"Well... kinda." Seth responded, a little reluctant to say so.

Luke smiled.

"Don't feel bad, here." Luke said, pulling off his backpack (the one matching to Clem's that they've been carrying since leaving the cabin.) and opening it up. Luke then handed Seth a nutrition bar.

"Th-thanks Luke." Seth gratefully replied, already tucking into his food.

"Don't mention it." Luke replied with a reassuring smile, in which Seth looked back towards the ground, trying his best to conceal a blush.

"God, I hope the others are okay. Clem had the other backpack... what if Jacob and Imogen are not with her? They could be starving!" Luke explained, his tone of voice clearly worried as his thoughts deepened.

"I'm sure they're all together." Seth reassured, taking a bite out of his nutrition bar, savouring the taste on his dry tongue.

"I damn hope." Luke responded, taking a sip out of one of the canteens of water.

Casual silence passed over the pair once again, making the sounds from the forest even eerier and frightening to hear. Seth especially, didn't enjoy it.

"Hey Luke." Seth spoke, distracting Luke away from his thoughts.

The brunette man turned towards the hooded boy.

"Yeah?" Luke questioned.

What seemed like guilt washed over Seth's face. Luke shuffled closer to the younger man for comfort sakes.

"I'm...I'm sorry." Seth muttered, hiding away underneath his blue hood.

"C'mon Seth, sorry for what?" Luke asked, his voice calm and gentle.

"Everything. Especially, well... um kiss-kissing you." Seth stammered. He did not dare to look Luke in the eyes.

Luke smiled warmly and reached his hand out to Seth's chin and tilting his head so that he was looking straight at him. The action was slightly intimate but Luke meant nothing by it. It was only just a way of getting Seth to look at him.

"Do not tell me you're sorry. Accidents happen and it's our secret, remember?" Luke replied, his voice more soft and quiet to Seth's ears.

It took Seth a while to reply as he was too busy once again falling into the pool of Luke's mesmerising brown orbs.

Seth had a thing about brown eyes...

"Our secret." Seth replied dumbly.

"Our secret." Luke repeated with a small smile before backing away from the younger man to give him his space.

Seth just nodded in awe.

It was stupid really, ridiculously stupid but he couldn't help himself. Sometimes, it hurt.

"You may want to get some rest now. I'll take watch as I don't want another Bonnie or Lottie incident happening again..." Luke explained, tucking his knees up so that his chin rested on them.

Seth watched Luke for a few moments before going to lie himself down on the hard earth.

"Are you sure, Luke?" Seth questions before fully lying down.

"I'm sure." Luke replied with a smile, gesturing towards Seth for him to allow himself to lie down.

"Okay, thanks." Seth says, before getting ready to drift off. (if he could, that was...)

Because of his shyness, Seth thought it was a better idea to sleep with his back towards Luke, in which he did.

Luke didn't seem to mind, he knew Seth's awkwardness and shyness was going to make him do this. But to be honest, Luke wasn't worried about how Seth slept, he was more worried of what was out_ there_...

Pictures of Bonnie's death consumed his mind and Luke only made it worse by thinking of what worse situation Clem could be in at the moment. If she was even _in_ a situation at all!

Shaking these thoughts away, Luke calmed himself down by humming a song. Soon, he found himself singing quietly and this relaxed him.

Little did he know, Seth was listening, mesmerised by the man's melodic voice filling his ears with nothing but a peaceful bliss...

Luke sung noiselessly, careful not to awake what he thought was the sleeping figure of Seth.

_You taught me the courage..._

_of stars, before you left._

_How light carries on endlessly, even after death._

_With shortness of breath..._

_you explained, the infinite._

_How rare and beautiful it is..._

_to even exist._

Luke continued to sing softly until he reached the end of the song. Thinking back, some of the lyrics made sense but he could never really think of how it was beautiful to exist. Especially in a world like today...

But he enjoyed the song nevertheless, and to relax himself... that was all he needed.

Eventually, Seth found his way into a deep slumber, his last thoughts being of Luke and his soft but beautiful voice echoing in his head.

Never had he felt so content.

* * *

><p><strong>The song Luke sang was 'Saturn' by Sleeping at Last.<strong>

**Understand the chapter name now? ;)**


	31. The Night Carries On

**Things will pick up, I swear. As for now, lets think about the constant worrying of someone finding Clem and Imogen and Seth suddenly feeling happy rather than afraid... ;) ;)**

**(Totally not hinting that something will happen...) ;)**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter 31- The Night Carries On<strong>

As the cool night continued on, Clem could only think of Luke and how he could be dead at this very moment. She shook the evil thoughts away and stared off into the distance, thinking about the situation she was in now rather than Luke's. It seemed pretty harsh, but anything to stop herself fro worrying would have to do as the river made Clem shiver as she reminded herself that she still sat half naked, her knees drawn up to her chin. What was the point really? She was covered in dirt that she sat upon. There was simply no way of being clean anymore...

Imogen slept soundly in the same state as Clem. She fell asleep no longer than an hour ago, exhausted from all the chaos that had happened in the past few days. The blonde girl had clumsily pulled on her clothes before she felt herself drift off into a slumber and truthfully Clem was going to do the same, but she simply did not have the energy. However looking around, the forest seemed to get eerier as time progressed. Anyone popping out from behind a tree would give Clem more than just a heart attack. Without further hesitation, she stood up and pulled on her slightly damp clothes.

The fire had been put out for safety precautions and Clem could only mentally scold herself for sitting around half naked for hours. She was going to catch a death of a cold soon, and with all the thoughts on her mind, a runny noise was certainly something she was _not_ in the mood to deal with. Clem looked over to Imogen who stirred in her sleep, however did not wake at any point. Clem was tired, very tired but she could not take the risk of falling asleep.

Something was going to happen. Whether it was something good or bad, Clem didn't know and she wasn't happy not knowing. But there was nothing left to do other than to wait...

* * *

><p>Jacob woke up at some point in the night.<p>

He grunted under his breath constantly because the ground was extremely uncomfortable and no matter how tired he felt, he simply could not drift off to sleep.

"Having trouble sleeping?" a familiar voice purred right next to his beanie covered ear.

Noticing the voice was closer than last he remembered, Jacob shot up, only to see that a certain red haired woman had her arms wrapped around his muscular torso and her own slender body lying practically on top his. _No wonder why I'm uncomfortable! _

"Get off!" Jacob snapped, however it was more like a warning.

Lottie giggled and casually slid away from Jacob's body, giving the man his somewhat _personal_ space back.

"What the fuck d'you think you're doing?" Jacob asked, rubbing his eyes and trying to stifle a yawn.

"Sleeping, what else?" Lottie replied with a sarcastic humour. She didn't look tired at all...

"Well if you're gonna do that, don't do it on me!" Jacob retorted, reluctantly going back to lying down on the ground. If only it was a fluffy bed of goodness...

"Why not? I don't have a bed." Lottie chuckled in her usual manner.

"Well, me neither. Just quit with your stupid games and let me sleep!"

Lottie smirked and lied back down, however around a metre away from Jacob.

"Sweet dreams." she said, but before Jacob could even think about what the woman meant, his eyelids all of a sudden went heavy. Despite the fact he couldn't get comfortable for hours, he now felt the tired-ness way down on him.

_Thank god... _was the last thing he told himself.

* * *

><p>Hours passed and Luke <em>needed<em> the sleep. He fought over what his body wanted but he eventually gave in, allowing himself to reluctantly stir Seth from his peaceful slumber.

Seth made a small groan and Luke tapped his shoulder and shook him gently.

"Hey bud, sorry to ask but I'm damn tired. You mind taking watch?" Luke whispered as politely as possible.

Hearing the sound of Luke's voice, Seth remembered the other man hadn't had any sleep whatsoever. From being extremely tired one moment, Seth became fully alert the next.

"Ye-yeah sorry I uh, got um...carried away I guess. Go ahead." Seth rambled as he slapped himself awake. Meanwhile, Luke chuckled and got himself comfortable on the solid ground.

"Any sign of walkers?" Seth questioned before Luke let himself close his eyes. He faced towards Seth who sat up, fiddling around with his pocket knife that he still kept handy.

"Luckily none, but keep an ear out." Luke replied, in which Seth nodded.

It was silent for a few moments but Luke hadn't fallen asleep fully. Seth coughed and quickly spoke.

"You're um, singing was nice... thanks." Seth spoke as his face flushed a deep red.

Luke had his eyes closed but he smiled.

"No problem, and uh, thanks...I appreciate it." Luke replied, opening his eyes briefly to see Seth's blush coated face smiling down at him.

Seth smiled once more before Luke closed his eyes and drifted off into his own peaceful slumber.

Although Seth wasn't sleeping, he felt as if he was dreaming. Although the only one alert in the middle of a deep forest that sang out nothing but death, once again Seth felt content as he fiddled around with the small blade while watching as Luke breathed lightly, his chest rising and falling. He hummed what he could remember from the song Luke sang, eventually finding himself falling back into a sleep of his own. Luckily he jolted awake a minute or so later, remembering he was on watch. Fortunately for him, walkers still were not in sight, however the sound echoed. There had to be _some_ near. Maybe he could have a look around, get rid of the few that would show up later...

But it wasn't safe leaving a sleeping Luke behind no matter how far Seth ventured.

Finally he decided to stay put, humming different songs Imogen and Luke used to sing to keep his mind at bay.

The night was long, the danger was near, but Seth had other things on his mind that kept _him_ happy.


End file.
